The Scarlet Knight's Dragon
by InfernoDarkness
Summary: After a battle with a former flame, the Scarlet Knight realizes the bonds she made will continue to be her strength. Can an unpredictable burst of flames prevent the darkness from creeping forward once more? Slight AU post Tower of Heaven.
1. Regrets

Sitting down, the guild was newly reformed by the time the four of them made their way from Kingdom of Caelum, south of Fiore. A lot of things had happened, and wanting a slight breather, she took a seat at one of the empty tables and ordered herself a simple strawberry cheesecake, as the rest of her team walked around the new guild; Mirajane as their somewhat tour guide to how the new guild was. She'd check it out later, but this was the first and the few times she had to herself since everything went down. First, she was reunited with all the people she was with during the times of her enslavement, met the first person she fell in love with, and just as sudden, he had tried to kill her to resurrect Zeref, had no qualms about killing one of their old friends, and watched as the rest of them set off on their own journey.

 _Flashes of the power he was consumed resonated as she tried to hold back the thoughts. He was choking, forcing himself to eat Etherion as a substitution for fire because he needed an extra boost to take him down. Piece after piece he continued to force himself to chew through the lacrima full of magical power. Why would he go that far? He was reckless, she understood that, but never before would she think he would go as far as to putting his whole life in danger just to take him down. Why wouldn't he stop, this wasn't his fight. It was a fight for her to face her past and push through it, so she could move on from there._

A little hazy, she could recall some of the things from the time there, up in the tower _. "You made her cry,..."_ it was the first time she had ever seen him so angry, _"You're the reason that Erza shed tears!"_ Jellal, the man not even she could beat was being smashed around the lacrima tower by the dragon slayer in a rampage, wrecking the tower with no problem.

 _It was terrifying almost, seeing such devastating power exploding out of him. And as she thought about it, it was also the first time she had seen the power of a dragon slayer up close. Granted, although Laxus was a dragonslayer as well, she had never seen him personally fight, or enter the same overflowing power Natsu had. Up until now I don't think anyone else had seen that side of him, that inner fury that was just waiting to be let out._

"Erzaa" snapping out of her thoughts, she looked up to see her teammate, Natsu walking over, with a slightly upset look on his face, his arms crossed, he sulked as he took a seat down, sprawling on the table as he just sat there brooding, "You're taking this well" slightly moody.

She was going to ask what was wrong with him, but she had an inkling of what was on his mind, "Let me guess..." taking a wild stab in the dark, "Everything's different and you don't like it?" asking him, watching him sink a little further on the table.

"Yeah" brooding a little more, he grumbled as he sulked further into his scarf, "It's different,... I don't like it, it was perfect the way it was" the way he was, was still that of a child, pouting because of something out of their control. It was slightly hard to imagine that just a few days ago he was crashing the tower, and knocking Jellal around, though that was the reason it took her by surprise. "What're you up to?" looking over at her, curious and hoping it'll take his mind off of it.

Smiling a bit, she picked up the fork, "The usual" responding, "It's just nice to be back home for a change,... thought I'd take a moment to relax" taking a bite from her cheesecake, enjoying it. It wasn't all a lie, however, after everything that had happened it felt nice for them to just relax and sit around without something going down.

The two of them just sat there. One of them was grumbling to themselves still about not liking how things were as he stretched out and laid on the seat, while she kept to herself and ate her cheesecake, enjoying the peaceful nature for now. For once, Natsu wasn't causing a ruckus or starting a fight with anyone from the guild, so it was a nice opportunity for her to enjoy the quiet nature for now until the inevitable would happen and a fight would break out. The last thing she needed right now was a mess starting and preventing her from enjoying her little treat after a long grueling time away. Though, she couldn't help but fall back to her previous thoughts.

"...is your body okay?" she had suddenly asked the pinkette, keeping her focus on her cake. However, she didn't get a response. Thinking that he was casually ignoring her, or paying mind to his own slightly 'pointless' issues, she began to grow furious, "Natsu!" slightly raising her voice, hitting the table with the bottom of her closed fist.

Startled, he rose up quickly in slight terror, "Y-Yes?!" panicked, he wasn't sure what to do, "W-What did I do?" freaking out a little bit he finally paid mind to the Titania just across the table.

"...Don't make me repeat myself" a little embarrassed, she fought a little with herself before making up her mind. "Natsu!" suddenly calling out to him again, startling him once more, "...Do you want to go on a job?" asking him. However, she saw a confused look on his face, making her feel like she had to reinforce herself, "Do you?!" slightly annoyed at the lack of response she was giving him.

A little confused, he looked over at her, "Y-Yeah... sure..." just answering her question, he wasn't sure what was going on, "Though,... it's going to be a while till Happy, Gray, and Lucy come back" a little bothered, he remembered that they told him they wanted to check out some of the new stuff the guild had to offer, and since he was being a stubborn child about it, he was just going to wait up until they were finished.

"No,... it's fine" assuring him, "It won't be too big a job" informing him, "Just something I thought of since you seemed really bothered about it" getting up, she picked up her plate and forks, "Unless... you'd rather stay here and grumble more about how 'different' it looks" passing a gentle smirk at him.

A little annoyed, he averted his gaze, knowing that he was being played with as she knew full well he didn't want to be here any longer than needed. Though, considering everyone else was busy, he figured there was no harm in doing something to pass the time and keep his mind busy, who knows, he might managed to have some fun after all. Watching, she kept an eye from the guild board as he eventually came to a decision, not that it was hard for him to think about considering the situation. All that was left was picking out a decent job that wouldn't be too difficult or too easy, just something that would be time consuming enough for the two of them.

"This should be reasonable" finally deciding on a quest, she took one, "Natsu!" calling out to him as she slowly made her way towards the dragonslayer waiting, "How does this sound?" asking, holding it out so that he could read it.

Curious, his hands were behind his head as he casually read it, "Eh...?" questioning, he began to read, "..." finishing it, his eyes dropped halfway as he focused them at her, slightly annoyed, "This is your best pick?" asking her.

However, she just had a proud smile on her face as she felt triumphant about what she had done. It wasn't the 'best' quest that was on the board, but it was what she felt was good enough for the two of them to accomplish on their own. Though, the main reason was primarily because it wasn't anything where the two of them would need entire focus or be at their full strength for. At least, that was her intention for this.

-[x]-

The two of them were in the middle of the forest, having the request from a bakery shop that there were rare ingredients they needed to find within the forest, which was lurked deep with the nests of some magical creatures. She didn't think it was that hard of a quest, considering it was only B-Rank. Though, upon seeing them leave at the last minute, Happy had joined them after slightly accusing Natsu of abandoning him. Wearing her usual Heart Kreuz armor, she made her way through the forest, keeping an eye out for what they needed. She didn't know exactly where they would be or what they looked like, but it couldn't be that hard if it was deemed like a regular request here and there. However, the real trouble was that she was waiting for the dragonslayer who was still dragging his feet lightly, a little bummed that he was on a quest to look for ingredients.

"This doesn't seem so fun,..." grumbling a little, he tiredly followed the scarlet knight further into the forest, wondering what possessed him to take her up on the offer, "What are we looking for again?" asking her, forgetting what it was they were doing.

Keeping an eye out, she carefully rifled through bushes and what she could to leave nothing unturned, "The request was to find a special colored fruits" she explained to him, "All we know is that their color is golden and that usually strong monsters guard them" informing him, "So... while I look for the treats, you should keep an eye out for-" realizing how quiet it was, she turned to face, "Natsu! Are you-" turning her attention, she realized the reason why he hasn't paid too much mind.

"Uh... Erza" standing a little still, "I think I found your 'special' fruits" saying with a bit of a dulled expression. Pointing at a direction slightly far from them there was a large hollowed tree that, at the base, was a hole where a special grove of fruits were.

Happy, who was in the air taking a look at where Natsu was pointing had just come back down, "Does special fruits mean they're all golden and shiny?" asking him.

"Yeah, it should be" Erza confirmed, "Good work Natsu, Happy" congratulating them, "Now we need to be careful getting them" advising, "We don't know whether or not there's anything here guarding them, and we can't afford to damage them neither" reminding them, "The job was for _all_ of them to be safe, that means, Natsu" focusing this important one on him, "No fighting OR using your dragon slayer magic" reminding him.

Sighing just a little bit, he understood perfectly what the Titania wanted from him, and although it was something not really quite up his alley, considering he practically destroys everything without trying, he figured it shouldn't be a problem just carefully picking them and bringing them back to their client. Casually, he began to approach the grove where the fruits were growing, keeping a sense out just in case something was going to come. Luckily for him, despite how close he was able to make his way towards it, there didn't seem to be anything to cut between them.

"Well... that's not too bad" he said, finally at his destination, "Happy, did you bring the basket?" asking his flying friend.

Saluting, "Aye, sir!" with a cheerful expression he quickly flew off to an unknown location, and perhaps slightly longer later, he came back with a basket made of woven twigs, "I left it somewhere because it was too troublesome to keep carrying" explaining to his friend.

Smiling bright, he took the basket, "Good job" telling him, "Should be no problem" grinning, his mood perked up knowing that this job was easy done with no worry needed.

Looking over at him, she felt better that she was able to do something to make up for all that has happened lately. The two of them were able to start a mission and finish it without any conflict, plus it was a bonus with her. Of course, she was going to have to explain to Lucy and Gray about the sudden job without them, and she'd need to find a way to make it up to them as well, but she felt that because he got involved in a personal matter, well, a much more personal matter, she thought that an easy high-ranked mission would be good enough.

"Okay, Erza" calling out to her, "I picked them carefully" beginning to make this way back, "Are you sure this was the mission? It was oddly eas-" cutting himself off, he caught a scent, "Happy, ca-" realizing that it was going to be a bad idea, "Come pick these up!" he told his friend, placing them on the ground.

Alert, she wasn't sure what was happening, but as soon as he said that, the exceed flew off at high speeds and snatched the basket from the ground and got out of the way. Just at that moment, some of the forest Gorian's came rushing in, and with its immense strength, struck the dragonslayer with its powerful fists. Luckily, he had braced himself just before impact and only suffered from being shoved back a few feet, cutting through the ground. There were not one, but two, three, until realizing there was a huge horde of them rushing through the forests, surrounding them.

"Natsu" calling out to him, "Leave them to me" instructing, "We both don't know how healed your body i-" before she could finish, he was already furious, fists ablaze and fighting off the Gorians as they came jumped in. Just a second ago she was concerned that perhaps his body wasn't healed up completely before jumping straight back into fighting once again. However, standing there she was at least proven he was still in fighting shape considering he wasn't having much difficulty fending off the looming threats.

Still, that didn't change the fact that this was her little repayment for the incident not too long ago. Requiping her blade, she gripped the hilt tightly and threw herself forward, cutting down the Gorians with just a few strikes and little effort. Beside her, the dragonslayer was still fending off a couple at a time. Even though it took him a little longer to put one down, she felt relieved he was able enough to do this much, thinking he was able enough to keep up during the fight, even if she was already ahead.

-[x]-

As the day came to an end, the two of them made their way back to the guild, one was feeling prim and proud of completing their job, while the other one was a little worn out and tired from the day, dragging his feet lightly behind the Titania along with the blue exceed floating alongside him in the air. Although it started out decent, the minor incident with the Gorian's set them back a little, but it was a relief to see that he was back in fighting shape. Though, it felt longer before the two had managed to somewhat make their way to a point of rest, considering neither of them had expected the mission to go as it did. After delivering the said fruits to the bakery, they were awarded 100,000 jewels, to which they split even between the both of them while they made their way to a bench to relax. Tired, the dragonslayer was almost ready to pass out, while the scarlet knight beside him seemed perfectly fine.

"Haaaa..." sighing, the pinkette managed to relax, "For a bunch of fruit, 100,000 jewels really isn't that bad" saying, the exceed exhausted himself and resting beside his friend, "Was it really okay not to have asked Gray or Lucy?" leaning up to face her, "I mean Lucy's rent and all...-"

A little worn out herself, she couldn't really blame him for not understanding the intent of the mission, "Natsu,..." calling out to him, "To be completely honest, I had intended this just as a little make up for what had happened back at the Tower of Heaven" admitting to him, "I was hoping that something like this would be enough to repent for what happened..."

"Hmm...?" it had then caught his attention, causing him to rise forward to digest all that she had said, "There wasn't need to do any of that" telling her with an earnest curious look, "Besides,... if anything happens to any one person on our team, it happens to all of us" smiling bright at her.

Taken back a little, "But!...the thing with Jellal,... Etherion,... all of it had to do with something I star-"

"Erza..." looking at her a little serious, his eyes half closed, "They picked a fight with Fairy Tail" telling her, "Even if it was a personal thing, no one messes with anyone from Fairy Tail and expects to get away from it unharmed. Even if it did involve your past,... what matters now is that you're with Fairy Tail, right?" grinning largely.

Looking at his face, she began to understand slightly, perhaps the full extent behind why he was who he was, and why he did what he did. The smile he beamed at her reflected the words he had spoken to her at the aftermath when she had thought she passed, when in reality he had saved her from a fate she set herself. The crying and devastated dragonslayer, alongside her friends and family, they were always there and ready to open their hand whenever someone needed it.

"oh... well... speaking of it" getting up, "Can you uh... wait here?" asking her, a little nervous and probably awkward saying something like that, "I swear I'm not going to just leave, but I just thought of something" informing her, "Happy!" calling his blue friend, "Let's go, we forgot something" ushering his friend, "We'll be back, Erza! Don't move!"

Watching, she noticed that the dragonslayer and his companion had hastily backtracked, leaving her to wait. She didn't know why she complied without arguing or questioning his motives, but at the moment, she knew that even Natsu wasn't as stupid to do something this cruel to her while they were both having a sentimental moment. However, it did allow her to let everything that was said sink in, reassuring her that after all that had happened in the former Kingdom of Caelum. It was a hard moment for her to have to relive, hoping that she was able to discard everything she left and move forward with her life. Unfortunately, she quickly began to realize that it wasn't that easy when she saw everything she had left quickly began to surface and ensnare her in the nightmare she thought she had left behind.

-[x]-

An hour had passed, and although she was having faith in the dragonslayer, it was quickly and easily wearing thin. She could feel her eye twitch having been left like this, especially due to the careless nature of the pinkette she had gone slightly out of her way to help atone for, just for the situation to have ended like this. Tapping her foot against the ground, her leg crossed on top of the other, she was ready to go out on her own to find him and punish him for this situation. It was then, she began to think about all the horrible things she was going to do to punish him once she found him, until,...

"Erza!" calling out her name was the sound of the dragonslayer that had left probably an hour ago. Furious, her arms were crossed, and she was already annoyed, ready to snap out at him.

Glaring at him, "What took you so long?!" slightly irritated at his carelessness, "You're lucky you just got here, I was just about to go find you,... and-" cut off, she had realized that as he made his way and was lightly catching his breath, she noticed that he was carrying a plastic back with a case inside, "Whats,..."

"Here" handing her the package, "I kind of felt bad we went through all that,... and I know how much you like strawberry cake..."

Following along was Happy, who was able to rest as well beside his friend, "Well, Natsu,... I think everyone knows" correcting him.

"Yeah, that" pondering slightly, "Well,... remember the strawberries we picked for the mission?" asking her slightly, "I asked him if he could make me a strawberry cheesecake using that,... cost me almost all the reward money though,..." feeling a little dread knowing he had already spent all that money like that, "But he managed to sell me one of his cakes" informing her, "Anyways... point is" realizing that he had lost track of his original intent, "I thought since you were bringing up what had just happened,... and well..." a little dulled, he admitted, "I just thought you could use something to cheer you up" grinning sheepish at her, he scratched the side of his cheek.

Again, that unpredictable nature of his, made it hard for her to figure out other than to simply label him as a reckless person. She wasn't sure herself, but his gesture made her smile, feeling a small warmth inside, at least that's what she took it as, "Thank you,... Natsu"

Instinctively, she held onto him and quickly pulled him into a hug, slightly forgetting that she was still wearing her armor and thus, had accidentally done slight damage to him. Even though it had only lasted a fleeting moment, and the slight complain of how much it hurt just after she let go, she was very lucky to have someone like Natsu be there when she needed someone the most. He was unpredictable, reckless, and undoubtedly destructive, but despite all of that was a layer of kindness he wasn't afraid to show to his fellow guild mates. And as the two of them, alongside the little exceed, made their way back to the guild, she began to feel that she was able to take the first step forward and release herself from the bonds of her past, and if there was any doubt or hesitation, she knew she could count on,... to pull her through it.

* * *

 **A/N: And here we go a brand new NatZa story! (yaaaay... yaaaaaay) I still do plan to do one-shots here and there,...but I REALLLY WANTED TO DO A STORY LIKE THIS. Well, depends. Probably one-shots are better,... but I have a dumb thing about trying to develop things -w-. Well, I'm hoping this to kind of separate from my last one (or a prequel) so either way it all depends on what you, the readers, would see. UNLESS (Darky wants to make the Darky dark fanfic universe :O) But I'm not sure. I'd actually love to do one-shots... but I like writing stuff too... I mean it'd be less worry and pain. Eehh... build up vs one-shots. -w-. Also, I know I know... (really people, Darky knows) Tower of Heaven is such an OVERUSED START. But Personally I just feel its the best opportunity. Also, I hope I adjusted the character's powers, I based Gorian's relative strength on Natsu's when he was a kid, so yeah. Well that's it for now. I really hope you look forward to this new story, and if you're just on the ride for sweet NatZa fluffs, i'll do my best to accommodate :3. Darky Dark Darkness sends love :heart : :heart: :heart: ~~~~~**


	2. Team Natsu Competition!

It was another fulfilling day for Team Natsu, as the five of them made their way back from another job well done. The feeling of doing 'simple jobs' here and there was a great feeling since for the most part they could handle any request. Helping out at restaurants, being an escort to another town, or even tracking down bandits. Nothing was too much for a Team full of spirit and love for their guild, full of passion and love for what they do. Kicking open the door to their beloved guild, the dragonslayer led them all in triumph after a day's worth of completely jobs. And as usual, the guild of theirs was full of people laughing, enjoying their time, and even chatting about what they were going to do.

Sitting down, the scarlet knight was in high spirits, "Great work today you three" referring to the three mages who sat down with him, "We managed to professionally pull off four jobs without problem" feeling that she had earned it, she ordered herself a slice of strawberry cake as her own personal reward.

"Aahh... what a day" the dragonslayer exhaled with a happy but exhausted sigh, taking a seat at the table with the rest of his team, "I can't believe we took on four jobs today" out of energy, he was face planted on the table, "Or wait,... was it five?" from the amount of different things they had done it was hard for him to accurately determining the actual number of jobs.

Eating her treat across from him, "I just said four, Natsu" correcting him, "Or wait..." slightly paralyzed with uncertainty, thanks to the pinkette, she pulled out the 'completed' request forms from her bag and sprawled them all out on the table, "No... That's definitely...four" tapping him to get his attention, she pointed out to him all four requests, "You just thought it was five because the last one took the longest to do"

She watched as the dragonslayer mulled over in exhaustion just remembering, "That's right..." worn out.

"Natsu, you need to pay more attention" eyeing him was the ice mage sitting to the knight, his arms crossed, he leaned back a bit to relax as well.

Glaring death at him, the dragonslayer replied, "And you need to keep your clothes on" commenting, causing the Ice mage to realize his habit of stripping had struck once again.

"Sorry, guys" it was the blonde sitting next to him, "I just really needed this month's rent money..." worn out, she followed suit next to the dragonslayer, "Though..." her expression dying, "Did you three really have to destroy everything in everything we did?" feeling the life escape her she recalled that even though they finished their jobs, they left a remnant of destruction in their wake.

"Eh... what do you mean?" like that, the three of them curiously paid mind to the celestial mage as if they weren't sure what she was talking about. It shouldn't be a surprise to her anymore that these three that while they were strong and powerful in their own right, they also had the worst habit of leaving a trail of destruction every time they did something, even something of the easiest thing.

Shocked, she wasn't sure how to take the fact they're easily nonchalant about everything they do. "Well..."

She then began to go on about every job they took today and the disasters that followed each and every one of them. Like, when they were asked to help at restaurants, everything was going fine. Working in the front, she and Erza were waitering around, taking people's orders and delivering them, while Natsu, Gray, and Happy helped work in the backroom. However, once they neared the end of the job there was a little dispute going on, and while she herself tried settling it respectfully, Natsu and Gray broke out in a fight, causing it to trigger the Titania to join. Escorting wasn't too bad, but when something, even the tiniest of threats arrived, another outbreak occurred. Thinking when they went to track down bandits, that was another destruction, even if the enemies weren't that strong. The only job they didn't manage to cause a destruction was simply delivering things. Barely.

"Aaanndd... that" she explained, causing a light shock amongst the three, "...Why do you all look like you're shocked about all of this?" surprised at the reactions they gave her.

In deep contemplation, the mood around their table was filled with distress, "Was... Is that all true?" the one who took it the worst was Erza, who took it upon herself that as the more 'responsible' one of the group, that she had allowed her reckless nature to seep through much like her fellow team mates.

It was strange, slightly, to see that despite them being consciously aware of the fact they were reckless and destroyed everything in their path, it was perhaps because of the fact they did it with the intention of 'doing their job' that for a moment that it slipped their mind, or treated it as collateral. Thinking, they were slightly hung up about this matter, wondering if it was possible for them to do anything without completely destroying what it was they did. Even just being at the guild, a simple fight amongst a small group spread to be a large brawl that would demolish everything in sight. It wasn't everyone that did, but the one thing the Master feared of were these particular three joining together. Another example they realized was when they handled the 'Lullaby' case, while they did their job in defeating one of Zeref's demons, the result of it wound up with them completely eradicating an entire town.

"This is a troubling issue" contemplative, the scarlet knight began to think how she could fix this problem, "We must show that we can be good upholding members and present our guild properly so that Master would have no problems or complaints from the Magic Council" looking towards her team, "Natsu, Gray, Lucy. We're going to have a team trial!" she declared, hitting the table with the bottom of her closed fist, "..."

It was then they three of them dulled their eyes at her, realizing that for someone who was declaring they needed to stop wrecking things, she was there already wrecking stuff before the event even started. She didn't need to be told why they were narrowing their dulled look at her, primarily because she had already caught herself in the act a second just after it had happened. The four of them weren't sure how they were going to go about 'fixing' their tendency to wreck things.

"I have an idea" catching their attention was the Guild's bar maid, Mirajane, "I couldn't help over hear you four want to get better and not wreck everything during your jobs?"

A little odd, the blonde looked at her a little questionable, "Why am I thrown in the mix..."

"Lucy" catching her attention was the stern Erza, looking at her seriously, "We are all a team, as such, we should bond and learn more together to help increase our proficiency" stating. It was then she turned to the white haired mage beside their table, "What do you have in mind, Mira?" asking her.

Thinking, the former she-devil wasn't sure either what they could do, "Well! Let's make it a competition!" saying ecstatically, "Whichever team can pass most of the challenges will win" saying, "And..." her expression turned dark, slightly sinister with a smile, "The loser has to... well... I'll keep that to myself for now" snickering a little, having a little bit too much fun with them, "Have fun preparing for tomorrow" smiling as she left, waving them bye.

Terrified, the four of them didn't like where she was going with this, especially since Mira was holding the consequences to herself. Erza, having dealt with her in the past was slightly more terrified than the rest of the group, if anything because she knew there was no limit to the former she-devil's tactics. It was dire, considering she had made it a Team event, likely because it could either improve the chances of succeeding, but she knew it was the opposite. With a team of people like theirs, two people working together could completely make it near impossible for them to succeed, all to let the white haired mage enjoy tormenting them.

"This... is bad" feeling the weight of the situation, she turned to face the rest of the team. Needing to win, she turned to face the Celestial Mage, "Lucy! Join my team!" asking her. Knowing that Lucy was the 'least destructive' person in the group, there was no doubt that she could win.

However, she was already too late, "No way" Natsu argued, stealing Lucy for himself, "There's no way I'm working with droopy eyes over there!" commenting to the ice mage who retorted, "Like I want to work with slanty eyes either!" Furious, the two of them stared each other down; knowing that working together in a situation like this was terrible. It was almost like the two of them were fighting over taking Lucy as their teammate because they both knew Erza would likely make things harder for to succeed as well.

"Uh... Guys" feeling awkward, stuck in the middle of two guys fighting over who'd be on her team, "If it's all the same..." she was stuck, knowing that if she had worked with either of them it was a recipe for disaster, a disaster she would be caught in. "I'll be on Gray's team" saying, a little distraught and exhausted. She figured that at least the Ice Mage was more reasonable to deal with, and well, she wasn't as terrified of him as she was with the scarlet knight.

With that settled, Natsu came to the slightly terrified realization he was placed on a team with Erza. Looking over, he sighed just a little; trying to stomach his fear, facing the Titania, "Well..." he wasn't sure what to say. He knew full well that the knight was determined to win this as she herself didn't want to have to go through whatever Mira had in mind for the loser. She was also bent on proving that their team could control themselves, even if it was to a degree.

"Listen, Natsu" looking at him sternly, "It's very important, that we do not fail" emphasizing 'very' direly, "Our reputation as a team...no, our entire guild depends on it!" stating to him. She was in high spirits, burning with determination and vigor. It was a bad match up, knowing that in the depths of her mind, because she felt the dragonslayer was the least careful in the entire guild, right next to Gildarts Clive who casually forgets the destructive nature of his magic. "We must win" telling him, "Can I count on you, Natsu?" turning to face him.

Lacking the same fiery feeling she was having, he just stared at her with an uninterested look on his face. "I have a feeling that if I say no, I'm going to have to do it anyways" admitting to her. With a sigh, he rose up from the table, following suit with her as he tried loosening his arms, "Well! Until tomorrow then I guess I'll have to practice not breaking everything we're gonna have to do?" confused at the sort of things he was supposed to keep mind of. Destroying things is what he was good at, so it was slightly difficult for him to figure out how he was going to go about pleasing the Titania, and assuring her wrath doesn't spell the end for him. "I guess I'll see ya, Erza!" waving his teammate off, he and the exceed made their way back.

Watching, she slightly began to wonder if she and the dragonslayer could pull it off. While she knew if she tried hard enough, she could manage to prevent anything from happening on her own, she wasn't entirely sure if he could. It wasn't out of sheer lack of faith, but just of her understanding of his nature. Any sort of competition, rather, anything that would rile him up usually resulted in mass devastation. Though, now wasn't the time for her to doubt her teammate, she felt, tomorrow when the challenges Mira will have prepared will come forth, she needed to have utter faith that he wouldn't prove her wrong.

-[x]-

As the day came to pass, all of them gathered to take on the challenge set before them. Though, seeing it as a thrilling sporting event, everyone else in the guild showed up too just to see Team Natsu make an attempt not to destroy everything the former she-devil would throw at them. Everyone was there, Lucy, Gray, herself, Nats-... pausing for a second, she looked around and noticed the pinkette wasn't there. It was already an hour till noon, so she had assumed that he wouldn't forget something so important that he'd sleep in. The smirk one Mirajane's face, the look of 'you don't want to know what I'm planning' was written all over, as if Natsu wasn't going to show up any time soon, then she would have to forfeit, and the other team would win by default.

Growing slightly bitter, the scarlet haired knight stood there, impatiently waiting for her teammate to show up before the inevitable conclusion that he would be announced as a no-show. Looking over, Gray and Lucy looked a little relieved that they wouldn't have to stress over whatever was plan, knowing that Lucy had only chosen Gray due to Natsu refusing to work with him, and Lucy's refusal to work with the dragonslayer. "No, Erza" she thought to herself, "Remember, have faith in your partner, even Natsu isn't that stu..." as much as she wanted to finish that statement, she did realize that the dragonslayer showed very little interest in this entire ordeal.

"Erza, what's wrong?" Mira smirked, feigning innocence, "If Natsu doesn't show up within the next five minutes, it'll be an automatic forfeit..." it was then her expression, while it didn't change completely, gained a darker villainous vibe, "...And then you'll be subjected to the ultimate torture..."

The intent was clear as day to everyone as all the members of the guild began to feel uneasy about what she was planning to do, having known the take-over mage fairly well. "He'll be here!" replying to her, putting up a strong front. The looks they gave one another almost felt reminiscent to when Natsu and Gray would fight. However, her concentration broke as she noticed everyone paying mind in a singular direction.

"Right here, Happy" flying in, using the Exceed, the dragonslayer fell from the sky and landed just next to Erza. "All right... I made it..." slightly focused and fired up. Fire, whether he liked it or not was escaping from his breath, though he did his best to keep going forward.

Relieved, she relaxed a bit, "You made it,..." her doubt began to ease up tremendously. Though, as she got a closer look, she had noticed something was odd about the dragonslayer. There were bags under his eyes, and he looked slightly delirious, not entirely, but enough that he was finding it a hard time to keep still completely. "Natsu... are you okay?" slightly concerned.

"Yeah... totally fine" despite the dark eyes, the light flares escaping every so often, "Sorry I was almost late, by the way" telling her, "I just had to tweak something real quick" despite his condition, he was still raring to go.

It bothered her slightly, the condition he was in. Anyone could see that the dragonslayer was up to something, and clearly he was doing something that required him to stay up all night. However, she would deal with it later, right now the two of them needed to compete with the other team and prove that the 'most destructive pair' as they were beginning to call them, could perform tasks that wouldn't involve wrecking or destroying whatever they were given.

"Listen up!" Mirajane announced, having grabbed a microphone to help cater to the guild around them, "There are going to be five events! Both members of each team will participate in each round, and whoever manages to complete the event without completely destroying anything around the targeted obstacle, will gain 1 point each for a complete end total of 10!" she explained. Team Natsu was at a slight loss how she managed to come up with all of this just over night, "Now! For the first evennnnttt~ Test. Your. Might!"

Moving to the side, she revealed a high striker. It was commonly used in festivals and other extravagant things, so they weren't a stranger to how they worked, but knowing Mira got involved they weren't sure whether or not it was a normal machine. Daunted by the unknown factor, they were a little hesitant; rather, three of them were as Natsu was still out of it. However, it was because of this that the dragonslayer made his way forward, going first out of the four, slightly just unhinged as he approached the likely rigged carnival game.

As he arrived at the game, all raring to go, "All right, Natsu" the white haired mage greeted, "You know what to do right?" asking, "Take the mallet and whack to reach the bell! Failure to hit the mark or destroying the game will result in a loss~" excitingly stating, "Be careful! If you break it, you lose!" There was no doubt that she would have spares lying around anticipating in this scenario.

The entire guild cheered in a roaring affair while most of them were placing bets on the dragonslayer's failure. They weren't doing it out of mean spiritedness, but they all knew the young pinkette most of his life, and as such, they knew what a winning bet when it came to them. Picking up the mallet, she watched from her spot that based on how much Natsu reacted, it was probably exceedingly heavy. Whether or not Mirajane had somehow tweaked the game was an heart wrenching factor.

"Alll rightt..." getting pumped up. He didn't know either the state of the machine, so he'd have to take a wild guess. If the object was to just ring it, he'd have to assume that a tap would do it, based just on the hammer's weight, "Round 1" fired up, he swung the mallet as best as he could, and dropped the blunt end against the spot.

As the moment of impact occurred, they watched the puck rocket up to the top of the tower. Everyone watched in suspense, especially Erza, who wasn't sure whether or not he was going to mess up. Nearing the top, all of them gazed as it struck the bell. The force applied was enough to make the bell shake violently, but, and thankful, it stopped shortly, catching everyone off guard.

"Point 1 goes to Team Natza!" Mirajane decreed with enthusiasm. Though, the scarlet knight simply just stared over at the bar maid with curious dulled half-closed eyes as to what she just called her team.

Passing by, Natsu returned to the side, giving him a proud look, "Good job!" congratulating him, as they took part in a passing high-five, "Just four more events and we'll have won"

Perhaps it was him being half asleep but he simply just smiled at her as he took a seat on the ground. All the needed to do was clear the next trials without problems, and perhaps they would manage to prove that they're capable of handling themselves. Having a go at it herself, she managed to secure another point for their team, still a little baffled by the odd team name that was given to them. It wouldn't be long that Gray would go up, barely just managing to pull off the same and scoring a point for his team that Mirajane had dubbed 'GrayLu', making her question the she-devil's enjoyment in this.

-[x]-

As the games progressed, the two teams did their best effort to clear them with very little repercussions. They progressed through events such kicking a ball through a goal post. One member from each time would go on, with one being the kicker, and the other as a goalie. The first go around was Natsu vs. Gray, where the dragonslayer accidentally kicked the ball and demolished the goal post, earning him a vengeful strike from the Titania. After which, Erza went up against Lucy, and while she kicked it hard, it was only enough to which Lucy was knocked into the netting. Unfortunately, Lucy had failed in her match, while Gray succeeded his. Then after was dodge ball, where 'Team Natza' went up against 'Team GrayLu', as Erza and Natsu managed to secure victory without knocking the opposing team too bad. Unfortunately, the next round was an enclosed ring surrounded by fragile objects, where both Erza and Natsu lost without question after breaking almost all them during the slight one on one, making it an easy win for the other team.

This lead to the final event, with both teams neck and neck with four points each. The end game was a relay race, in which the path was three miles from the guild, all the way to bridge out of town. The goal was that each member would hold an egg, and had to travel to the half way point, to where the other would receive it and take it the rest of the way. If either the egg breaks or they cause any damage to the town, it would cause them to lose.

Standing at what Mirajane considered the 'starting point', Erza was faced up with Lucy, while Gray and Natsu were both a mile and a half away. This was a horrible match up. Not only was her partner deprived of sleep for reasons unknown, but it was also a race through town while holding an egg, "I hope Natsu's all right" it was unnerving, knowing that he barely got through some of the events just because of how worn out he was.

"Now for the final event~ This one is worth a total of six points!" Mirajane, changing the rules slightly with Happy on her shoulders, "Each member will make a dash to the other, stationed a mile and a half away holding this egg" holding up a normal egg, handing them to both Lucy and Erza, "The first team to make it to the three mile mark wins!" announcing, "On your mark,... get set,... go!"

With that, their announcer took off to the skies thanks to Happy who wound up carrying her from behind. Both she and Lucy set off, carrying the egg in their hand while safely navigating through the city in order to reach the half way point. Overall she was precise, taking in everything ahead of time, and adjusting her pace whenever it called for it, or risk making a leap, something she limited herself considering she was lucky each time she hadn't destroyed anything. Looking to the side, she had noticed that Lucy was taking the slow approach, prioritizing caution over progress, which she felt was a smart plan in itself. Erza herself had only taken the rash approach to make up for any slips ups the dragonslayer could make given his situation.

"Almost... there" thinking to herself, it was strange how many people were in Magnolia all of a sudden. "Damn that Mira,... she probably set up something so that we'd have a struggle..." lightly cursing her friend just a bit.

Beside her, Lucy was still a ways behind, though, she had to admit that it was difficult herself managing to carry this egg in her hand, as her instincts made her want to grip while she ran. Though, soon it began to slip just a little here and there, making it harder for her to concentrate on the path. The further she ran, the more crowded it got, and the harder it was for her to keep a firm hold on the egg in her hand. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to slip as it got slightly more difficult to take into account all the things going on in town, and making sure she wouldn't fumble.

"He's just ahead..." thinking to herself, seeing the dragonslayer,...sitting?!, "Damn it... he's passing in and out" cursing in her thoughts. The added anger was just making it problematic, "When I get there..." closing in, "Natsu!" yelling out at him. Unfortunately, just as she did, her anger got the best of her, causing her to trip and the egg flying out of her hand.

Her heart began to sink as she watched the egg reach its peaked height and fall straight to the ground. Any ability she had to breathe ceased at that moment as her fear took over. It wasn't so much the egg falling that terrified her, it was just the fact that she didn't want to suffer under the white-haired mage's reign, knowing that she was honest with her word, and couldn't ignore whatever she would request.

To her surprise, as much as everyone else's, Natsu had caught the egg in time, sweating terribly out of fear. "Sorry, Erza" yawning just a little, "I'll make it up to ya by winning this!" holding the egg in hand, he gave her a thumbs up with a large grin before running off.

Watching him take off, Gray not too long after as Lucy caught up, she noticed how much he was forcing himself to run, trying to compensate for any odd movements he had with occasional light bursts of flames to boost him back right. He was going up against Gray, someone he considered his number one rival, as well as being in a state of loss of sleep. It wouldn't surprise her the least if he was going through all that out of fear, assuming that if he had lost or anything he felt she would unleash her 'wrath' upon him. Still, wanting to support her teammate, she requiped into her 'The Knight' and took off, watching the progress of her friend.

-[x]-

For the while, she had been watching her partner's progress as he and the ice mage stumbled through town. She wasn't surprised that during the course of the remaining race, that the two of them were going to find means to sabotage the other. The pinkette wound up getting the worst of it, as he was using most of his strength to keep awake enough to focus on the paths before him. Oddly enough, she noticed he was having no problems holding onto the egg. Unlike herself earlier, the only enemy he had was his lack of sleeping, something she reminded herself later to berate him for whether they win or not.

As they reached the final stretch, she closed in to stand at the end post, which was the just near the way out of town, alongside Mirajane, "Closing in~..." speaking into the microphone, "Our very own Salamander and Ice Mage is rushing towards the finish line, folks!" announcing, "Neck and neck, who will win?!" it was obvious that by this point, the take-over mage was getting far too into this.

"Lookin' tired there flame brain" Gray pointed out there, "Why not take a nap?" It was easy for someone like an Ice Mage to keep an object stable with his ice-make. Every so often, he'd let out a little chill to comfort the dragonslayer into falling into a slumber.

Fighting against his desire to pass out, the pinkette bit his lip just enough to cause himself light pain, "Yeah,... and have Erza kill me? I'll pass popsicle princess" she did her best to ignore that remark, though it did make slight sense why he'd work as hard as he has been, "But, ya' know... maybe I just want to win" stating to him, "Erza get's her cake, I get to shove it in your face,..." listing out alternatives, "Don't know,... somehow I just feel like winning" passing a determined smirk.

"Yeah?" taking in what his fellow guild and team mate had to say, "Can you really say that,..." since the egg was physically secure, "Now?" just when they were in the clear, Gray rammed into Natsu, just enough to throw him off balance.

Reeling in from the shove, the dragonslayer stumbled a lot more from his tired state. Fighting himself, he began to fumble the egg in his hand, watching as his lack of gaining a good grip caused it to bounce forward from his attempts to catch it while also assuring that he wouldn't grip onto it too hard. It was a close ending. Gray was slightly ahead due to his little shove, coupled with the pinkette's difficult trying to get a better grip onto the egg. However, seeing that there was no other choice, Natsu leapt, propelling himself forward so that he could both catch the egg securely, for the most part, and leap himself just far enough so that the top half of his body would land just over the finish line, holding the egg up in the air to assure that it would be okay.

"And that's it! Team Natza wins!" Mirajane decreed aloud, full of excitement, "That means..." her expression turning suddenly cheerily, "They're just _slightly_ more able to be careful than the other" reminding them that the whole point was because Lucy had called them out on their tendency to destroy everything they do, even if it was a simple task.

Relieved, Erza made her way forward to congratulate the young dragonslayer, "Good job, Natsu!" praising her companion, "...Natsu?" just as she reached him, she heard strange noises, and as she flipped him over, found the young pinkette to be soundly asleep. Sighing lightly to herself, she smiled just a little, "You're going to explain to me later why you were up so late...idiot" she couldn't be completely mad that he drove himself to be this tired. The way he looked when he arrived just before noon looked like he was going to already pass out.

Just this once, the scarlet knight picked up the dragonslayer and allowed him to sleep. She had wanted to take him back to his place, but it dawned to her that he was one of the few guild members who didn't necessarily sleep anywhere relative near town. In fact, she didn't even know where the pinkette and exceed called 'home'. He was always at the guild from morning till night, sometimes passed out somewhere inside if they weren't all invading Lucy's place. Though, it didn't matter to her, what mattered was that he managed to win, assuring that she could always count on him when she needed him to.

-[x]-

The night was roaring with laugh and cheer at the guild called 'Fairy Tail' and that was for a much different reason than usual. Because Gray and Lucy had lost the competition, they were both forced to submit to the punishment Mirajane had set, which was both of them wearing somewhat-revealing bar-maid outfits while also helping her out serving drinks. As far as she could tell, everyone was enjoying the 'temporarily new maids' around the guild. The guys especially, seeing Lucy in a get-up like that, while Juvia herself was the sole observer for Gray, noted by the immense amount of times that the rain woman would personally request something mundane, such as a glass of water just to see him up close.

"Erza?" calling her out was Mirajane, "Not going to eat your cake?" asking her. It was a little shock, but as most people knew, Erza wouldn't really pass up a chance to eat a slice of her strawberry cake.

Smiling just a bit, she kindly shook her head slightly, "Save me a piece" requesting, "I'm going to turn in for the night, it's been kind of long and tomorrow we're probably going to do something hectic again" a lot of them had rents coming up, so it wasn't a shock that they would frequently be out.

"All right" smiling, "I'll take some cute pictures of your team mates to remember this then~" cheery, she waved her friend off.

Closing the door to the guild, she made her way out under the starry sky. It was a calm night on her way back to Fairy Hills, giving her a lot to think about, though nothing too serious. Things have fun a lot more fun lately, for the requip knight, feeling that perhaps for the first time she was able to love and enjoy things without feeling the slightest scared of what was to come. Sure there were still things that lingered, but for the moment, her heart was as clear and calm as the sky above her. She had been told by Happy that Natsu was up since they left the guild the previous night, working on trying to control himself while performing a number of tasks that required concentration, something she thought at first for him to be lacking. Though, after seeing how easily he managed to keep hold of the egg, up until when Gray shoved him, she realized what Happy said was to be true.

Making her way up to her apartment, she carefully opened the door, and not to her surprise, the dragonslayer was still asleep. She didn't know where else to put him, and leaving him out in the open while she checked in with the guild and what not seemed a little dangerous, not to mention she would feel ungrateful for doing that after all he had done. She managed to convince the owner on account if Natsu didn't behave, or did anything suspicious, she would personally tend to it. It didn't help either that no one really knew where the two of them lived, especially since asking Happy seemed a little reluctant to 'reveal the location of their secret base' as he liked to put it.

"You did great, Natsu" saying in just a whisper, forming a light smile, "Just sleep for now, you've earned it".

Thinking, there was probably no other reason he had done it aside from just being scared of her. Growing up, somehow he had taken her 'strict demeanor' as something to 'be afraid of' but for the most part, she was glad that he wasn't completely afraid of her. There was no doubt that when he woke up, she was going to scold and give him a thorough lecture on how important sleep is, regardless of the reason. For now, however, she was going to let him sleep. Changing into her pajamas via 'requiping', the Titania lightly pushed the dragonslayer to the side and got in. She didn't really think of it as much of a problem considering the two of them had shared a bed here and there when they were children. Stretching a little, she relaxed next to the pinkette, feeling her eyes grow heavy until finally, she fell soundly asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: (Hello everyone! It's Inferno! Darky Dark is passing out slightly, but they wanted to state it was kind of fun writing this chapter, if anything because unlike NaVia, they have a whole range to do stuff and people to interact. They also apologize for no 'direct' NatZa moments, but promises that its a step they felt was a good one because it'll lead to more fluff moments. Also! GrayLu may not be the official pairing to interact and will be up in the air as they felt it wa-) Eehh? Zzz... Sorry, folks! What's going on? (I was telling them about GrayLu) oh, right,... well I threw that there because I wasn't sure. I may or may not have it as 'fic-canon' but I do wanna have them as a couple perhaps in other stuff. This took me a while longer 'cause I wound up writing 'Double Date' first as I was asked it for a week or so, and I kind of struggled the direction I wanted to take this story, so I hope it was good. The transition may seem slow or sudden, but there's an aspect I decided on to base this little 'romance ship' of these two. If...Zzz... (I'll finish for them. I hope you enjoyed the story! Leave them notes and suggestions or thoughts about what's to come! :grin: :grin: :grin: Much love from Darky Dark and Inferno! :heart: :heart: :heart:)**


	3. Day Off

The heat was unbearable as the Titania stretched around, tiredly resting herself against the large bed in the room. Today was one of her 'rare' days off where she wasn't either going on jobs, training, or working her slight partial time as 'Dorm Mother' for Fairy Hills. Tired, the fan in the room was there on the highest setting, doing its best to cool down the scarlet knight, who simply lied there on the bed, the place riddled with several of her novels she had taken the opportunity to try and get through considering there were so many of them still around. If it wasn't enough that she had to deal with the heat from nature, she had to deal with the unfortunate reactions from reading her novels.

A little ensnared by the atmosphere of her novels, her mind began to drift, imagining the scenario she was reading. It wasn't unusual for her to feel a little shameful, having the kind of hobby she did, but for all the things she lacked, 'love' was part of it. At least, 'mutual burning love' like the things she had been reading. "I wonder,..." thinking to herself as she began to flip through the pages upon completion, "Natsu!" calling out, she turned to find the pinkette on the floor, dozing off with the exceed.

"W-What?!" shooting up, it was a reflex he developed after years of the Titania scolding him for not replying to her within the short time frame she'd give him. "Eh...?" turning to face her, "What's up?"

Closing her book, she turned to face the dragonslayer, "After reading up, I have come to a conclusion" she began to say, "As your friend, and team mate, it is my responsibility to teach you the error of your ways!"

"Eh?" not sure where she was going with this, he just gave her an uninterested glare, "...Not interested" turning down her request, falling back down to the ground next to the exceed who was frantically trying to cool himself down with a fan, "I thought it was going to be something serious and cool like... I don't know, training?" throwing suggestions out, "Besides, what kind of error are you talking about?" figuring he may as well ask her.

Shocked by his lack of understanding, "Your lack of being sincere and courteous!" slamming the book down at him, "Day after day, you break into Lucy's house, and steal her bed, shower, food!" scolding him, "Have you no shame for your actions against your teammate and fellow guild mate?!" she was baffled. Usually people were sincere and kind when they visit other people or use their belongings, however, after reading as much as she had in her book, she realized that if they were going to be better as a group, they need to learn how to take care for one another and treat each other sincerely. "That's it! Natsu, Gray, Lucy!" calling out to the rest of her teammates, "We're all going to go out!"

Everyone in the room were either shocked or uninterested, though, once the Titania declared something, they had no choice but to listen and follow through. This meant that 'Team Natsu' were going to go out on yet another excursion when they could be just sitting there and relaxing before another day comes to when they'd need to take another job. However just as usual, the fact the four of them, five if you included the exceed, would probably enter a scuffle that would turn their little 'vacation' into a shocking nightmare for them, well, most of them anyhow.

"Erza,..." a little terrified, the celestial blonde looked a little dead-panned, "You broke into my house too though…" a little drained and exhausted. All that, and the four of them were in Lucy's room the entire time against her will, "In fact, Gray was here first,...then I turned around and you were on the bed with all your books, and Natsu was sleeping on the floor with Happy" describing the trail of events that occurred in the last hour. "You even took my fan..." and since then she was without her fan, leaving her to burn up from the heat.

Looking at her a little blank, "Eh?" questioning her, "Weren't we having a Team meet up?" asking her, "I assumed since Natsu was here that we were" turning to face him.

"Me?" questioning, he was a little tired, "I was up all night and I wanted to take a quick nap before going out to go train with Happy in the woods" yawning just a little, "Speaking of which,..." without warning he fell back down and went back asleep.

Questioning, it was the Ice Mage's turn then to figure out what was going on, "Huh,... So we all made our way to Lucy's house instinctively?" thinking aloud, "I got it!" tapping the bottom of his closed fist down against an open palm, "Lucy's house is our secret base!"

"DON'T TURN MY HOUSE INTO A SECRET BASE!" she comically shouted at him, "...And at least wear clothes when you're in my home!" a little flustered that in the short time Gray's clothes had disappeared once more.

Questioning her, "Why?" curious, "It's hot out" he told her. Seeing that it was good enough, he turned to face the Titania, "Erza" calling out to her, "About Lucy's place being Team Natsu HQ, what do you think?" completely ignoring Lucy's rejection.

"That is a very good idea, Gray" replying, in slightly deep though, "We do end up here often, so it wouldn't be such a bad idea for this to be Team Natsu's HQ" saying, "Besides, We did bunk here when Phantom Lord first attacked... It's official! As of today, Lucy's home is now the secret HQ for Team Natsu" officially declaring.

Things were just getting worse for the celestial mage who wanted to cry. "I'm merely doomed to be stuck like these aren't I?" comically crying on her desk, "And why are you stripping too!?" watching as Erza almost followed Gray's example and changed into something lighter. It wasn't necessarily like Gray, but aside from her usual casual wear, namely her white blouse and blue skirt, the Titania wore a half cut shirt that was baggy, accompanied by a pair of shorts.

"It's hot" simply answering her, though all she got was a tearful cry from the blonde mage. "Though,... we can't have it at my place, considering it's in Fairy Hills" she started to explain, "Gray's apartment obviously isn't that fun if he's coming here in his free time" getting a light dead look from the ice mage, "And..." looking over to the sleeping dragonslayer, "No one knows where Natsu lives" commenting.

It was true, considering she had him sleep over at her apartment as thanks for before. Though, once he woke up, she had hoped he was going to 'head back' to his place, wherever it may be. There were no real reasons why, she just never understood why he avoided going home for so long. Was it in a dangerous place? Is it too far? There were several reasons she thought of for it being the reason behind the dragonslayers ill-desire for returning back. Though, it didn't help that being a dragonslayer that his senses were enhanced, meaning it was nearly impossible for any of them to track him back the way home. If it were that easy, she likely would have done it long ago.

-[x]-

When the day continued out, Team Natsu set out doing various things to pass time in the heat. Deciding they wanted to hang out at the guild, the destructive five set out to see what everyone was up to, and to their surprise, it was entirely the same as they figured it would be. Macao and Wakaba were sitting at the table, complaining about the heat and talking about the state of affairs. Cana was up at the bar, drinking probably a little more than she usually did to try and beat the heat, though honestly neither of them saw how alcohol would be effective. Reedus was off painting as he did in the corner, as the rest were either playing in the guild or out on jobs.

"Grrraaaaaaaayyyyyyy!" out of nowhere, the water mage, Juvia came to swarm over the ice mage, who was unable to get away, "Juvia was so sad her beloved Gray was nowhere to be seen, until now!" she had swarmed his body.

Bored and exhausted from the heat, the rest of the members simply walked away, "Well, Gray's busy" the dragonslayer commented, "What else did you guys want to do?" asking, noticing that the blonde was missing. Looking ahead, he noticed that she rushed off to see what Levy was up to, "...And Lucy is gone too".

"No one wants to be around you, Natsu" the exceed joked as he floated on by.

Giving him a light glare, "Oi... where do you think you're going?" he asked, shocking the exceed a little and keeping him in his spot, "Well,... at least wait up for me" sighing a little, he held his hands behind his head. However, just as he began to make his way off with the flying blue cat he had noticed Erza was still there, "Erza" calling out to get her attention, "Aren't you going to do anything here?" asking her.

"Hmm, good point" surmising, "Hey, Natsu" calling out to him, "You haven't checked out some of the new things the guild has to offer right?" asking him, "I remember you told me that you just bolted when Mira started giving the tour" reminding him. It was the time she still felt guilty about what had happened and she took him on an easy quest as a means to make it up to him.

His expression fell, "You're right" smiling a little sheepish, scratching the back of his head, "After that I kind of just went back home for a bit before moving on with the day".

"...Home?" it struck her a little that he'd mention it carelessly like this, but she shook it off. Even if she wanted to know where it was, there was no way she could just force it out of him right here. "Nevertheless, how about we go check out what things have to offer?" suggesting, "Maybe there's something we can do here to beat the heat".

Not seeing the harm in it, he simply shrugged his shoulders, "Sure" smiling at her, "Anything's better than just standing around here with nothing to do".

Like that, the three of them, having including Happy in their little adventure, went off to explore what the guild had to offer. It seemed a little fun, not knowing what wonders it had was something that usually excited him, and now that he wasn't brooding over the 'difference' of the guild, she felt perhaps they could have a fun time and it'll take her mind off of it. Pausing for a moment, she changed out of the outfit she walked around with and changed into a black two-piece swimsuit with an open collared tropical shirt on top, alongside a split skirt around her waist. This was so she would be comfortable in the heat while they walked around the guild.

The two of them looked as if they were on a trip to the beach, though the real reason was primarily just to counter the heat. It wasn't too bad she felt, considering that they were all friends and guildmates. If Natsu and Gray could walk around in a swimsuit, the latter just it being his innate hobby to strip when necessary, it should be fine. Walking around, they were amazed to find out that the guild, rebuilt, had a lot of things to offer now. One of the first things they noticed was a 'game room' of sorts, filled with all kinds of things for them. There was a billiards table, where most of the 'adult' members of the guild were playing around. Intrigued, her eyes lit up due to the surprise that Fairy Tail had their very own 'gambling' area, something she was lightly fond of.

"Oh? see something you like?" Asking the scarlet haired woman. Curious, his hands were behind his head as he saw the fire of excitement in her eyes. It was the first time that he had ever seen something like this, as usually she didn't seem that easy to be entranced into things.

Smiling to herself, she crossed her arms, "Natsu, have I ever told you I am the 'Queen'?" asking him full of determination and confidence. "I mean surely, people have randomly decided to call me the 'Queen of Fairies', but most definitely, they are wrong" telling him, "I,... am the Queen of the gambling room!" invigorated with strength.

"Huh..." for some reason he found it slightly either exciting or dull, "Gambling's fun? The most I've ever played were cards" admitting.

Erza was struck by shock and despair, "What?!" she couldn't let this slide. For her dear friend to miss out on the wondrous fun of gambling was devastatingly shocking to her, "I've made up my mind. I'm going to teach you how to play billiards!" filled with spirit, she grabbed hold of the pinkette's wrist and hastily dragged him off.

Taken by the shock of suddenly being apprehended, the dragonslayer wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Doing his best to keep up with Titania as she dragged him down the stairs to one of the empty tables. Everyone around knew of the scarlet knight's habit of gambling, but most have never seen her quite entranced by it since the only thing she had shown interest in was her strawberry cake. Drawing attention to them, people in the room were gathered paying attention to the Titania showing the Salamander the key ways to win this game.

Stacking the balls using the triangle rack, a joyous smile appeared on her face as she handed Natsu one of the billiard cue sticks after setting the billiard balls in just below the middle of the table, and hung up the rack. "All right, pay attention" instructing him. Her vibe suddenly shifting into 'Teacher Erza' mode brought the salamander to full attention, "The key object, is to knock this white ball" showing him the only ball without a number or colors, "And use it to smack into the other ones" somehow, the people of the guild were getting a terrible feeling about this. "Watch, I'll show you first and after I'll guide you".

Everyone watched intently as the Titania set up the ball to smack into the leading ball of the stack. She had the right pose, leaning her back down so that her eyesight was lined up with tip of the cue stick, she used her left hand, placed on the table as a groove to keep it stead as she slowly took her him. The people around them were watching intensely, seeing just how good she was after her large proclamation. Feeling confident, she pulled it back before throwing it forward, striking the white ball with all her force. Before they knew it, the scarlet knight had struck the stacked balls and shattered a little more than half of them in a single strike, shocking them immensely.

"Tch,..." she looked disappointed as she watched it. Everyone felt relieved that she saw the error of her ways, "Usually I break all of them…" or they fell into a larger shock because she knew exactly what she was doing.

However, the dragonslayer was more than amused, "Woah! That's so cool!" cheering her on, "Can I try?" excited, wanting to see if he could pull off the same thing as the Titania.

"Sure!" smiling, approving his spirit, "Oi! Mira! we need more billiard balls" calling the barmaid.

As if she knew this was going to happen, considering she overheard people talking about Erza going into the billiard room, the former she-devil popped in with a fresh stack, "Here you go, Erza~" cheerfully encouraging her reckless manner, "Oh?" noticing that Natsu was with her, "Ahhh, I get it" passing a light wink, confusing the two, "I'll just leave this stack here so you two can play to your heart's content~" plopping down a large box filled with boxes of billiard balls, "Have fun~~" waving them off as she made her way back, "Call me if you need anything~"

Without delay, the two of them dusted off the remains from the broken balls and replaced them with a new set, replacing the box with the old ones off the table. However, Erza merely watched from afar as she observed to see if the dragonslayer was paying attention to her instruction. He was nervous, only because the last time she was his 'instructor' was back when they were kids, and she taught him how to write and read perfectly, well, to a working extent. And every time he had gotten something wrong she had a dark punishment following after hand. Luckily, he had at least stacked them right, knowing he couldn't have gotten that wrong at the least, the rest was just setting up for a shot.

Fumbling a little, trying to remember how she lined up a shot, "Hey, Erza!" calling out to her, knowing she was watching, "Am I lining it up right?" his form was kind of a lot like hers, but he was struggling a little with the cue stick.

"Almost" correcting him, "Straighten yourself out more" advising him, "You want a nice clean straight shot if you wanna crack all of them" Watching intently, she wanted to see him keep with the form.

Following like she did, he kept a watching eye on the tip of the cue-stick to assure that it was lined up perfectly with the white ball. It wasn't perfect like hers were, but he was keeping it at a steady pace. He was getting too excited, so as he was readying for a shot, he threw it forward, and as it struck the ball, they watched it as it went flying straight towards the ones that were stacked. It wasn't a perfect shot, as it felt to the side during the shot, but as it crashed into the others, he took out the left side of the stack.

"Close" saying, "However, you did a great job" congratulating him, "I have a feeling you'll turn out to be quite a pro,... well, not as much as me" keeping that sense of pride with her.

From around, people were whispering to one another as they watched the two of them, "Should we tell them they're playing it wrong?" asking another.

"Are you mad?!" a little terrified someone had suggested that, "If we did that we might not make it to tomorrow!"

The two realized that perhaps telling the two of them they were playing it wrong was the 'wrong' course of action, as the Titania and Salamander were having fun of their own just doing what they were doing. Round after round the two of them took turns, eventually seeing who could break the most of them in a single turn. It wasn't long until what 'peace' was in the guild pool hall was easily disturbed as it was filled with nothing but destruction from the one pool table. It wasn't terrible, however, but the main fear came from the realization of how Erza handled it whenever she went out to the casino, or worse, what the two of them will do if they both went to one together.

-[x]-

After they had gotten done with the pool hall, rather, they had gotten bored after destroying all the spare sets Mira had brought them, the three of them made their ways elsewhere to see what was there. Eventually, it brought them over to the pool area, where some of the other guild members were relaxing and enjoying their time. Thinking that it would be a perfect place for them to rest after their little 'competition' they three of them decided to join in with the rest of the guild. Luckily there were some spots left, but it didn't matter as the scarlet queen had wanted to jump right in, resting on the side. Natsu, on the other hand, was busy as he made his way over inspecting what he was going to do.

"What are you doing?" giving him a confused yet stern look. The way he was going about things seemed a little weird, "Can't you just get in the water like I am?" darting her half closed eyes at him.

Floating beside him, the exceed was drifting by his friend, "We can't 'cause Natsu forgot my floater at home" bummed.

"Sorry, Happy!" feeling guilty for his friend, "I didn't think we'd just jump right in to be honest, I was planning just to sleep at Lucy's place all day"

Turning to face him, Erza crossed her arms on the side of the pool, "Really, Natsu?" lowering her gaze at him a little more, "You could've slept over at my place again" catching the attention of everyone, prompting her to look around at them, "What?" questioning the other guild member's awkward reaction to her declaration, "It's normal isn't it?" unsure how else to explain.

"Heeerrree you go~~" oddly enough, Mirajane appeared with a new floater, tossing it for Happy to get, "Have fun you three~" cheerily waving them off once more again.

It was odd how weird Mira was being today, but she shrugged it off, "Well, there you go, Happy" smiling up at the little flying blue cat, "I trust there's nothing wrong now then I hope" keeping a gentle grin on her face.

"Yaaaaay~" excited the cat flopped down into the water, "Come on, Natsu!" the exceed urged him on.

Seeing no excuse, the dragonslayer slipped into the water, letting out a sigh of relaxation as he did. "Man, the water feels good" feeling relieved. "It sucks that we'll be back on jobs later" saying aloud, "But maybe I'll come back here after" sinking further in.

Relaxing, the three of them rested there as they took in the feeling of the nice cool water. Out around they could hear the laughter and sounds of everyone else enjoying the same thing. He was right though. Feeling the nice cool water after a long hot day was soothing for the scarlet knight. After all that's happened, especially the little competition they had, they should have definitely come back afterwards for a dip, though Natsu had passed out which was a little wrench thrown into the mix. Either way, she was able to realize the little pleasure of the guild. Just as she was about to relax completely, she heard Natsu and Happy fooling around, noted by their mischief sounds and how the water was slightly awkward. Peering out, The two of them were having a light 'splash war' against the other.

"Natsu!" calling out to him, the little exceed whispered into his ear. She couldn't necessarily hear what was going on, but catching the gaze of where it traced, she caught on. Lucy and Levy were just talking as they made their way into the pool area, and it was then she knew that the two of them were up to no good, especially since they both passed a large grin at another alongside a thumbs up.

Thinking it couldn't be that bad, she let it slide and continued to enjoy her moment. However, she couldn't say the same as the dragonslayer and the exceed's little scheme they were planning were about to go into effect as the two girls made their way by. Natsu and Erza had kindly smiled at their friends who were passing by. "Hey Natsu! Erza!" Lucy calling out waving, "What're you guys doing?"

"Llluuuuuccccccyyyyyy~~~" Crying, the exceed flung itself at the blonde with tears streaming, he clung onto the celestial mage, "It was horrible!" sniffling, "Natsu said if I didn't get into the water, he was going to sell me to Erza's foot monster!" crying.

Furious, the blonde looked at Natsu, as did the Scarlet night, "You said what?!" Although Lucy was preoccupied with the exceed in her arms, Erza was a step away from crushing the both of them for the comment they made, especially one that insinuated her foot itself was its own monster. "It's okay, Happy" comforting the cat, stroking him, "Levy and I will take you to a nice place and get lots of yummy fish all right?" smiling brightly.

"O-Ookay..." sniffling a little, the cat held on as the two changed directions and began to walk back, "Oh,.. and Lucy...?" calling out sadly.

Smiling, hoping to comfort, "Yes, Happy?" brightly continuing to comfort him.

"I'm sorry" his crying had ceased for a moment confusing the celestial mage. It was then Levy had a terrifying expression on her face, as Lucy had a terrible feeling about this.

Without time to react, Natsu had grabbed her in a full hold from behind and leapt backwards, suicide dropping them both in the water. Just as it happened, however, the shock allowed Happy to escape from the clutches of the blonde mage and gently flew his way back to his floater. Lucy was the first one to get back up, and if she wasn't already wearing something dark, she would have murdered the pinkette for his actions. However, the dragonslayer had snuck his way back to Erza's side, laughing beside his friend as Erza held her face in her palm. She was unintentionally a part of their 'terrible' plan to help throw of Lucy, even if it were just a tiny little part. Angered, the Celestial mage got out of the pool with Levy's help.

"Natsu!" she yelled at him, "You better not come to my apartment tonight if you know what's good for you!" telling him, angrily leaving alongside her friend.

The two of them's laughter soon died down as they settled, "Well... that sucks, but it'll be fine, right Happy?" smiling sheepishly smiling at his friend, "We'll crash at the guild~" stretching a little before resting back up against the edge of the pool.

"Aye~" raising his hand up, "Lucy's just overreacting and doesn't understand fun" agreeing with his friend.

However, they didn't escape the only person they didn't factor into their scheme. A little annoyed her foot was ridiculed by it being called a 'monster', she kicked the pinkette to the side, "Whose foot is a monster?!" angrily looking at the knocked out dragonslayer and then the exceed whose expression fell. "Well?!"

"...Lucy! Help me for real!" crying he was about to flee, only to be caught by the scarlet knight, "..." realizing what had happened, he fell slightly dead.

Just as she was about to punish the cat for her comment he made about her foot, she felt a splash collide with her, taking by surprise. Everyone around, in fact was surprised about what had happened. With the exceed still in her grasp, she turned to face the direction of the splash that crashed against her to find that Natsu was lightly terrified in his action, but felt he had done so to quell the Scarlet demon from punishing his little friend. Quivering, the rest of the guild members were terrified, not knowing what the Titania was going to do. Twitching just a little, with all her strength she threw the little cat against the dragonslayer, with enough impact to at least dent the edge of the pool.

"I hope you two learned a lesson" crossing her arms, glaring down at the two of them, "And what was it...?"

A little dazed, the pinkette tried to keep a stable front, "Oh,... this is easy" forcing himself back up, the little cat flew up having a feeling about what he felt was going to happen, "If the mighty Titania can't partake in a simple splash war, then maybe it's time she's dethroned" readying himself in a splashing pose.

"Oh,... bring it on, Natsu" a mixture of pleasure and light agitation filled her, seeing the dragonslayer standing up to her. She was never one to back down, and with words being spouted to her like this, there was no way she could back down.

The two of them turned the whole pool into a war zone, splashing each other with enough force to push them back a decent ways. Just like that, everyone in the vicinity turned into a war victim, as they wound up being the ones attacked whenever either the pink-haired or scarlet-haired would dodge the other's 'splash'. From a standpoint, the 'splashes' looked more like little tidal waves crashing from one side of the pool and onto the water. Of course this wasn't the lesson that she had told him and expected him to learn, so after she 'won' this little contest of theirs, she would have to further lecture him on his misdeeds. For now though, she was content having to spend this time like this before the rush came back on.

-[x]-

As the day came to an end, the three of them, four including Happy, stuck around the guild. Exhausted, the thought having a nice meal would be great to end the almost exciting day they had turning almost everything in the guild into a war zone, wrecking almost everything in the spirit of 'fun'. She didn't feel too bad, however, but perhaps this wasn't the right place for them to go 'all-out' like they had done. Gray on the other hand, was just a little thankful he managed to get away from Juvia finally, having spent most of his time prying her off of him, and then waiting out till it got too hot for her to keep on the search, something he didn't think she was capable to do.

Sitting there, the three of them each had their meals. Erza with a light meal that was perfectly balanced. Some meat and vegetables. The dragonslayer on the other hand decided to go for a 'full meat-course' with a side of fire, something the others still couldn't imagine how a person could enjoy just eating flares of flames, but then again, neither Gray nor Erza were dragonslayers. Gray decided on something simple, thinking anything was fine as long as the water woman wasn't around, and the tiny exceed wound up getting a lot of fish.

"Well... it seems like Luce is still mad" smiling a bit guilty, "I didn't think she'd really feel that mad for our little prank though" commenting as he somehow managed to 'munch' on flames.

Across from him, Erza was dicing her meal a little, "Well, you both _did_ suicide drop her into the water" reminding them, "I think anyone else would've been mad if the same had happened to them as well" making a point.

"So where do you think you're gonna bunk tonight, flame-brain?" the ice mage asked, "Since 'Team Natsu's Super Secret HQ' is currently off limits"

He wasn't sure how to answer, but hearing the name caught his attention, "Woah! Lucy's place is really our HQ?" fascinated by it, "Well..." getting back to the topic, "Dunno, probably in the back room or something when Mira closes" just guessing, "It's pretty comfy back there, and-"

"Natsu~" interrupting the conversation, the white-haired former she-devil popped on over, "I got some cute pics you might wanna see~" smiling she fell between him and Gray so that he couldn't see what it was she had, "How about it? I'll give 'em to you for 10,000 jewels" acting like a smuggler.

Looking at her a little dead after taking a look at the pictures she had, "Really?" not sure how she could ask for money like this, "Fine fine,..." commenting as he continued to eat his flames, "I'll bring the money when I get back then, sound fair enough?" asking her.

"Sure~" smiling a little chipper, "You're welcome by the way~" dancing off a little, taking the pictures with her.

Everyone stared at the pinkette, wondering what was going on between the two, "Natsu..." a little sketchy, "You're not..." it bothered them a little how Mira would suddenly offer pictures for 10,000 jewels, wondering if it were a little side business of hers. Erza's knowledge made her believe it could only be 'one' thing, prompting her face to fluster, as well as her anger spike, "You're not accepting risqué pictures of Mira are you!?" coming to that conclusion.

"...!" hearing that caused him to almost choke, "Of course not!" retaliating, "I didn't...wait..." remembering something, "What's risqué?"

The comment drew a sense of disappointment from the two of them until realizing something like Natsu likely wouldn't have any interest in the matter. However, she caught the attention of the barmaid who was intentionally signaling her to follow her. "I'll be right back" telling them with a light smile.

Considering they weren't that curious where she urgently needed to head off to, she was able to leave without any real problems, much to her pleasure. Following, Mira had led her to fairly special place where there was enough noise and distance from the dragonslayer. The scarlette was a little unsure why the former she-devil had dragged her all the way out from the spot, but she felt it had to be something important if they were in a place where not even Natsu could here. Even if he did have enhanced hearing, the distance and atmosphere around them was enough to muddle his dragonslayer ears just enough, wondering if it was purposely done this way so that she could have this talk.

"You're curious about Natsu?" she asked with a light smile, "Why he's always sleeping in the guild, right?" she asked with a faint look on her face, "Well... you see,..."

As she began to speak the reason about why Natsu refused to go home, the scarlet knight's eyes opened wide. Thinking and turning back to where the dragonslayer was, she had to admit she was a little fearful that he could secretly hear this, making it hard for them to confront him after this. Though, slowly she began to piece together bit by bit of why he was a little hesitant and secretive about his home. If Happy himself wasn't going to divulge the secret, she had felt it was for a far greater reason than just them being childish, and with this, she had the understanding why. However, hearing about it made her feel a little uneasy for some reason. She couldn't put her finger on why.

* * *

 **A/N: Yayyyy another chapter is done (Darky is so proud of themselves) I was SUPER irritated because I wasn't sure what angle to take this chapter. Originally I wanted this one to be just before the thunder palace arc (considering i'm just going to write before and after the main arc...) because of stuff, but also because I wasn't sure how fast to slow to develop the feelings between them! xD Another odd issue is that I'm getting slightly mixed up, because in some of my other NatZa ideas, they're already a couple, or pushed at the point of being lovers or something... so writing them like this is fairly uncomfortable. No worries though! I know I could have done a lot with the plot and story, but I'm saving it all for the next few. Sometimes I like taking a break from writing action scenes, but I've no problem writing there here or there (Darky cries trying to come up with fight choreography) no i don't! ;w;. But yeah, next two chapters will be before/after the thunder palace arc with Laxus (FINALLY) and I'll put disclaimers on the chapters that i'm intentionally skipping the main thing (Because Darky doesn't want to have to re-watch it all and force you guys to re-read something that was better done animated) But! I will mention events of them and what not so it's not completely ignored or something. (Darky just wanted to alert you guys) anywho! Lemme know what you think~ Are they going too slow? Fast? Should they just say f- it and hook up? Only time will tell! AHAHAHAHAHAHA Ha...ha...ahah...ha... okay i'll go ;w;. Ooh! before I forget! '** procellasdracon **' from tumblr wrote a prompt that inspired the billiard scene :3 Lots of love :heart: :heart: :heart: ~**


	4. Resting Point

**Chapter 4: Resting Point**

* * *

Sunny, the skies of Magnolia were clear as the four of them were once again, on taking on a slew of different jobs to get through the day, and of course, keep up with the rent of everyone who needed. It also helped that since the Magnolia Harvest festival was just around the corner, that a lot of them needed funds just in case that something had popped up and they would like to buy it. This was also Lucy's first time being slightly part of it, as Fairy Tail, and some of the other guilds around the place usually participated in the parades and events. As such, they took on a whole new set of jobs that paid hefty, but that would also mean that the task at hand would be just as difficult as the reward was high. Though, this was no problem for the four. Considering they had wanted to get a few of the jobs done without any worry, they did the easiest ones they thought of they could do in the beginning, saving the hardest one till the very end. Quests in the early beginning weren't that bad. Some of them were the usual ingredient picking that Erza and Natsu had done a while ago, though, seeing as the quantity was vastly increased to commend all the people that would be gathering, it was a good thing that Lucy and Gray had come. Another of the jobs that they have done involved having to hand out flyers for all the events that were going to be available, as well as the parade times to let people know when something was going to appear just in case some of them weren't able to make it.

With just two jobs left, Team Natsu had made their way over to the lower district as there was a request to help move things in as the shops had just gotten a large import of materials and stock. Seeing as this was just close to the last one, they figured it wasn't too bad for them to get a little warm up before ending the day with what Natsu called the 'fun' job. There were a few places that just received a lot of stock that needed to be brought in, as well as needing to help tidy up and organize the materials that were going to be brought in. Other places like Magnolia's weapon and armor shop received a vast shipment of weapons and materials that needed to have been brought in, something to which Erza, Happy, and Lucy claimed they could just tidy while the two boys would bring in the materials and items needed to be stored. Even if the two of them claimed that the scarlet knight could have easily done it by herself, she wanted to do something a little simple because of her role in the festival.

There were stacks and boxes of ore and weapons all over the place as both the dragon slayer and the ice-mage had brought in the items one by one. Eventually they were getting a little competitive over seeing who could bring in the most things, but overall she was just glad they found some motivation in trying to get it all done. "All right" saying as she checked the inventory list, "Natsu!" shouting out to the outside so that she could hear them, "Are there any stacks of mythril blades out?" asking.

"..." she didn't get a response, the only thing she received then was the sound of the dragon slayer having an annoying time trying to bring in a large crate, "I... guess?" his face was turning light blue perhaps from the overexertion, but he was fueled from the ill thought of the ice princess being able to beat him. Dropping the crate as gentle as he could, though considering there was still a loud 'thud' by the time the box hit the floor probably meant he was hitting his limit. "Phew..." wiping the sweat from his forehead, "Let's check!" smiling a little loud, he pried open the crate with a crowbar to reveal whats inside.

Looking over the contents of the box, "Let's see..." scrolling down the list, "Fifty Mythril Swords, check. Natsu, hold this for me" saying as she handed him the clipboard with the inventory sheets, she simply moved it over to the corner, prompting Lucy giving the 'You probably should have done this to make this go faster' look. "That and the last shipment Gray is bringing in should be the last for this job" saying as she lightly wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"You know, you could have done this yourself" the pinkette said as he narrowed his dulled gaze over at her, "Then we could have gotten to that last quest far sooner" stretching.

Simply taking the clipboard from him, "You're the one always wanting to train" bluntly telling him, "So, isn't this the perfect opportunity to follow through on that?" asking with a light smile.

"I guess" groaning just a little, leaning up against the wall, "So what did you an Mira wind up talkin' about?" asking her a little curious as he crossed his arms, "It seemed awfully serious, you came back a little upset for some reason".

Taken aback, the Titania wasn't sure what to say. Though thinking slightly carefully, "Well... what is it that's so important that Mira is selling you photo's for 10,000 J a piece?" asking, smiling to counter her nervousness.

"...!" hearing that she had such a counter, his face lightly flustered causing to disengage the Titania, "...Nothin' important" pushing it off, "Just a super rare awesome...thing that Mira had is all" this time he closed his eyes so that there was no way the scarlet queen could catch him off guard.

Smiling, she peered a little closer, "Oh? It seemed awfully important if you're working hard for those pics, Natsu" challenging him. The two of them weren't just going to outright say what the other had wanted, but she couldn't back down a contest if it was the dragon slayer pushing for one. Truthfully, she was slightly curious about what was going on between him and the take-over mage. However, consider all that Mira had told her that night the reason for Natsu's habit of sleeping in the guild and/or Lucy's house, she knew it would be bad to mention it outright, instead she fought offensively, knowing that he wouldn't bother telling her. The light blush on his face did intrigue her however, though she doubt someone as stubborn as Natsu was going to divulge such a secret. "Besides, since when are we so interested in what kind of expression I have?"

"..." his face burned more as he began to get a little more angry or frustrated, "Because! I need to know if I- Ugh, I'm going to go beat that ice princess now" a little steamed he simply ignored the Titania's question and made his way off to 'torment' Gray.

She laughed a little as the two of them watch Natsu storm off like that. However, Lucy began to look at her a little oddly, "Uh... Erza?" asking her as she made sure things were neat and tidy, "Did I miss something?" noting, "Since we came back from that thing with the Tower you've been a little odd lately" mentioning as she finished up.

"Really? I haven't actually put too much thought into it" telling her honestly, "If you're that concerned though we can discuss it later" with a light smile, "We should get back to finishing up so we can get on that last job before it gets too late" telling her friend.

It was a little curious, but she just had to ask because the first time she had met Erza, she was so stiff and strict about everything, but as of late she had been a little more 'relaxed' if that was the word to find. There were evidences of it here and there, but this was one of the biggest as she was just a little carefree about the jobs getting done. Usually, she would have probably yelled at him or hit him, something to teach the dragon slayer from slacking off on the job. Heck, she knocked him out for 'not listening' to her explaining all about Eisenwald and the stories about 'Lullaby' when the four of them first started as a team. Though, she couldn't take that it was a 'bad' thing, she just wasn't sure what had gone on to cause this 'Erza' to be a little more less stuff and more flexible about things. Either way, she decided to just let it go for now, seeing as since it wasn't probably serious there was no real need to get that involved with it. Whatever it was that happened, she was at least happy for her friend that she was showing a little more happiness.

Eventually, they managed to finish up the job at hand, with little complaint as earlier, as promised Natsu and Gray wound up fighting out of the blue, primarily because Natsu was in an off mood, prompting the the Titania to go back out and 'dealing' with it by punishing the two of them, despite it being entirely Natsu's fault. Luckily they weren't damaging the goods in the process, but their little 'quarrel' eventually did cause the two of them to waste a little time before they could finish bringing in the rest of the stock, and because they had spent some of their strength fighting between the two it was slightly more difficult to bring in the rest of the materials. Meaning that they had a little set back before they were able to take on the last job of the day.

-[x]-

As the sun had just reached its peak and slowly began to descend for the day, the four of them finally managed to get on with the last request they had, which was to take out a little Dark Guild that started budding. It wasn't too serious, but the Magic Council had issued it as an S-Class job just to be safe, and considering that as long as they had an S-Class mage with them, Erza, they were allowed to take up the job per the new rules that were established at the Fairy Tail guild. This is what Natsu was all fired up about, seeing as this would be his _first_ official S-Class job that he was able to take that was actually also 'approved' of by the Magic Council. Another aspect was that since it was to assist the Rune Knights in apprehending them, all the needed to do was beat them as much as they could and they would get the reward, meaning they could be as reckless as they wanted as long as it was in the nature of trying to beat down the Dark Guild. Needless to say, all they were all pretty excited. Well, all except for the Celestial Mage who didn't share the same battle hungry feel the other three of them did.

The intel they received from the report was right, that there only a handful of members in the Dark Guild they were assigned to take on, and luckily for them as well, none of them were 'too' bad. They had light experience in handling dark mages in the past, the one most troubling being the ones from Phantom Lord, but other than the 'Element 4' most of the members were hardly a challenge when they crashed their guild in revenge. Reports had given that the mages were planning a meeting within their base that was placed just outside the city, making it easier and less stressful for them to worry about getting innocent civilians caught up in the mix. Stationed just at the base of large rock formations, the guild's hideout was stationed just near the end to make sure it was obscure enough that most people would idly ignore or pass by. It was strategy they had prepared just in case, Natsu and Gray would crash the party, and create an uproar so that the Titania would dive in to pick off the most that were escaping. Lucy's job was using her Celestial spirits as assistance with Happy acting as her assistant.

"How long does it take for them to hurry up..." the blonde groaned a little as she sat beside the scarlet knight, "I thought that Natsu of all people would make the biggest-" before she could finish there was a large explosion of flames.

Requiping into her 'Heavens Wheel Armor', the Titania was covered in an 'angelic' outfit made of steel-looking blades, even the wings of hers looked like each 'feather' was a sharp blade that could pierce through all those it touched. "Oooh~ Erza's wanting to make it rain blood again~" Happy exclaimed upon seeing the armor. "Let's go, Lucy! I don't wanna miss who wins!" the cat had a strange sense of joy as the two of them made their way off to the 'battlefield', leaving Lucy behind to catch up.

As the three of them made their way in, the dragon slayer and the ice-mage were already going to work as they seemed like they were doing just 'fine' on their own. They seemingly had turned it into a one-sided competition, to where Natsu was saying something about 'going to beat more' than the ice mage was doing. On one side, the fire dragon was using his magic to amplify the strikes and speeds of his melee attacks. Avoiding magic was one of his specialties as the brawler of the group, his magic was much better used to attack both close and far corners as evident by how he'd either set fire to his fists or feet, and upon contact, the magic would cause a mild fiery addition. On the other side, the ice-mage was similar with his 'ice-make', creating various weapons and situations to either attack and defend simultaneously.

Seeing that several of them had all tried to pile onto him, with some restraining his movements, the dragon slayer extended his hands out, igniting both his fists on fire, "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" large flames began to engulf and increase in size before slamming his fists together, creating a massive fiery explosion that encased him and everyone around in a large growing sphere, fending off and incapacitating all of his attackers.

"Ice Make: Impact!" with his fist pressed against an open palm, he created a massive intrinsically designed hammer that dropped to the ground on his targets, rupturing and destroying the around them to incapacitate while crushing others.

Things were going as much as the Titania assumed was going to happen with these two. Natsu was dodging, taking strikes and returning them at a good pace to assure he wasn't being overwhelmed. Some instances he would block with his arm before immediately striking with his other fist, following through the momentum with a kick to another target as they came up, and bellowed flames if he needed. Gray on the other hand was a little more evasive, using his Ice-make to create doppels and striking either physically or with another spell while his opponent was caught off guard. However, none got close to the scarlet knight. Using her massive array of blades, she swarmed in, cutting down those that tried to approach her. She was very versatile, with two swords in her hand, and countless floating around, she fluidly moved, blocking and immediately countering with the two in her hands, after sending out a 'rain of swords' striking all the ones around her in a cyclone of metal.

Back to back, the two mage's guarded and kept vigil over as the remaining Dark mages had decreased thanks mainly to the scarlet haired young woman clad in armor. The place was wrecked, something that was already 'normal' from the three members of Fairy Tail. Luckily, however, this played to their advantage as the debris often helped in taking out some of their enemies. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" unleashing a violent bellow of flames, the pinkette managed to also take out some that were planning to run off, as they didn't want any survivors. On the otherside, the ice-mage had their side covered, "Ice-make: Geyser!" ice began to spark out, piercing and entrapping those in ice of those that came shut, "That's about 23 for me, Natsu!" deciding to annoy the pinkette with a fake total.

"Shut it!" frustrated, he couldn't admit that the ice mage was managing to cash in, "I'll show you, popsicle head" annoyed, he faced those in front of him, charging head front, "Fire dragon's...!" slugging one of them with just enough force to knock them back against a few others, the dragon slayer closed in to finish up, "Claw!" Swiping, a flurry of flames appeared as the pinkette 'clawed' through with a dragon's fiery claw, burning him and the others in one go, "That was uh..." blanking just a little on the total.

Realizing that his friend wasn't keep track, the ice mage was fairly annoyed, "Don't make a competition if you're not even keeping track!" making a light complaint.

"Focus you two!" scolding them was the scarlet knight as she requiped into her other armor, Japanese Cloth. It was a fairly light piece that couldn't even be considered 'armor' with her top exposed, save for the numerous bandages wrapped around her chest, and the red fiery pants, tightly fastened around her. In both hands she held a single-edged blade in each, and her hair was tied up in a long ponytail. Compared to her other others, this was probably her most versatile one, as it allowed her to move around with ease and mix more than just cutting. Cutting down the mages, she occasionally kicked a few aside before throwing one of her blades at them for safe measure. "And that makes,..." turning around and using both hands on the blade to block, she was lightly 'saved' as the dragon slayer fell in and knocked them out, only for one of them to have retrieved the sword she threw and used it against her, "Stealing... is wrong!" lightly annoyed she grabbed hold of what hilt she could get and sent a strong kick to knock the mage off, "53... looks like I win, boys" passing off a light smile to them.

Raising his hand, the little exceed was on the table, "I took out 2!" proud of his achievement, "That was way more than Lucy" trying to hold in a big laugh from getting out as he sort of mocked the blonde mage.

The guild was empty, all the members having been defeated. Presumably at some point they had taken out the 'guild master' but they were lightly caught up in what they were doing they hadn't noticed it. After all, the remains of the guild itself was in ruins with hardly anything left standing. This left the celestial mage, who was watching from the side to be slightly unamused, as considering it was 'this team' in particularly, there wasn't a doubt that they would have wrecked the place to be in this situation. Though what she didn't expect was for all three of them to have made a competition out of something as dangerous as seeing who could 'beat the most evil mages' in the dark guild. Looking over at the Titania, something was slightly off. While she was still the same Erza, there was something about her that seemed different.

However, all that was short-lived as the dragon slayer went back into 'assault' mode. His enhanced hearing had allowed him to pick up on subtle things before it came to others attention that a mage was was 'still alive' and was preparing a light 'suicide' strike. Trying to close in and stop it, the rammed right into the mage hoping to have stopped it. The remains of the guild was shaking violently as were the formations around them, and as the place around them began to break and collapse. They had to quickly make their way out before either of them were caught in the mess. It would have been simple if it was just a 'collapse' of everything around them, but since the ground began to tore, Gray's ice magic probably would haven't helped. Their only bet was to get out while they still could and assess the situation then.

"Erza!" before she time to react, the dragon slayer had boosted himself with his magic to knock the Titania out of the way as a bunch of debris landed ontop of him instead.

Angered, she was about to yell at the pinkette for what he had done, "What the-" annoyed, she turned to face the fire mage, "What was that for, Nats-" however, her words were cut off as she realized that in her place was a growing pile of debris. "Natsu!" rushing over, she tried to dig up the debris for her fallen friend. However, she was pulled out of the way by the ice-mage.

"We have to get out!" yelling at her, telling her the reality of the situation, "If we don't, we'll get caught in it as well!"

As the rest made their way outside, they watched as the remains of the guild collapsed. It wasn't long, but soon it had subsided, concluding that it was meant to be a 'final effort' to bury and subside whoever else was inside. For the most part, everyone had made it out all right, aside from the dragon slayer who had knocked the Titania out of the way to 'take the fall' for what was supposed to be hers. Just then, the Rune Knights sent by the magic council had arrived to take into account whatever had happened, but the three of them were in light shock for what had happened. The pile of debris had made its way about six feet using the remains of the guild that was still intact, alongside the nearby formations. There wasn't too much of a stretch to assume that perhaps this was the reason the Dark Guild had chosen their base of operations here, seeing that if needed to they could simply collapse the struct on their enemies and themselves as a last ditch effort.

Thinking it was safe enough, the Team had pushed past the Rune Knights as they tried to dig out the remains of the debris to see if the dragon slayer was all right. Unlike the people from the Magic Council, they weren't so readily easy to mark their friend off as 'dead' because of something as trife as fallen debris, and no on wanted to stop them as when they had tried the first time, the Titania marked them with a dark glare telling them to 'back off' as she and Gray removed pieces of debris. Even the exceed, as tiny as he was, was eager to help and not lose faith, as Lucy used one of her celestial spirits 'Taurus' to help pick up the pace seeing he was probably her 'strongest' spirit in terms of raw strength. Her heart was pounding, perhaps a little anxious and angry, as she continued tossing pieces, not caring where they landed.

Filled with adrenaline, the three of them managed to clear most of the debris in a hurried rush as they cleared away the rubble. It wouldn't be long until they found the hint of a scarf that he always wore. A glimmer of hope filled them as they focused on that area, revealing the rest of the dragon slayer that was buried under the pile of remains. It wasn't long until they got a better hold of him that the Titania pulled him out with all her strength, falling back a bit as the pinkette was pulled out. "Natsu!" resting him on his back, she slapped his cheek a bit, hoping the shock would get him.

"Miss" one of the knights approached, "If it's all right with you, we can ta-" however, he froze as she glared at them once more. "...Nevermind" coming to that conclusion, "We'll inform the council of the event and we'll consider this 'completed'" telling the group, some of them not too pleased, "I'll have the reward sent over to the guild for, 'Team Natsu' was it?" confirming. After receiving confirmation from the other two mages, they along with the rest of the Knights departed, not wanting to 'pester' the scarlet knight and her friends any longer.

Seeing a breath of air escape, they were relieved he was still 'okay', but he was probably still worn from all the work and fighting in the Dark Guild, that perhaps get crushed by the debris just knocked him out for now. Either scenario, they were relieved that one of their own was all right and it was probably only going to be a couple hours at the most until he'd wake up. She was angry at him, that much was true. However, most of the anger was for the fact he chose to be entirely reckless that was unneeded. Usually the strong had to protect the weak, and if that were true, she never understood why he'd choose to take the fall if he knew she was far stronger than he was. Regardless, she carefully lifted him up, and with Gray's and Happy's assistance, they began making their way back to the guild so that he could rest. When he woke up, she would give him a nice long talk about how far reckless he was, and that there's a time and place for such actions.

-[x]-

Night had fallen, and everyone in the guild was causing a ruckus as usual. They had explained what had happened on the job, and Mira helped take Natsu to the resting area so that he could rest up since he wasn't that badly hurt. It wouldn't have been that long after that a carrier from the Magic Council had arrived to the front of the guild and handed the reward for the S-Class job as promised. The carrier also kind of explained they had planned to deduct a little for entirely destroying the place and made it slightly difficult for them to apprehend the ones that weren't deceased from the fall, but seeing as it may have left a bad taste considering the outcome, the Council added a slight extra and mentioned it wouldn't happened again. Of course the Team was excited, having not only completed their first 'official' guild, but also because they received a light bonus from it as well. Because of this, the guild made it another excuse to throw another 'party' just for the sake of it.

"Mira!" Cana called out, a little flushed from having drank a lot already, "When're ya gonna gimme another-" hiccuping just a little, she fell into a daze from her days drinking of alcohol.

Smiling, the white hair was tending to the bar, "I think you should go rest, Cana" assisting, "You don't want a hangover and miss most of the festivities tomorrow" telling her.

"Hic-... yeah..." a little woozy, she looked over to the Titania who was calmly eating her strawberry cake, "I should go in the back an-" getting up, she made her way a little to the infirmary, "Keep Natsu compa-"

Before she could finish, the fell over and fell asleep on the ground, pleasing the scarlet haired woman as she didn't have to worry about 'dealing' with the guild's card mage. After word had gone around that Natsu 'saved' her a second time, people had been testing her patience lately, a little bothered that they were intentionally trying to rile her up. Elfman had been preaching about, about how 'manly' it was of him to do something like that. Mira had passed her a strange look when they took him in and she offered to keep track just because she owed him that much, but because of the white-haired mage's odd vibe, she thought it was better to just hang out with the rest of the guild. She wasn't in any real hurry to 'punish' him, though, she would have liked to know he was okay when he woke. Another thing that had been odd was that the celestial mage had been looking at her a little more odd, remembering they had yet to 'finish' what they had started talking about earlier in the day.

"So... about earlier" Lucy brought up, pondering over, "Did anything really big happen, Erza?" curious.

Perplexed, she looked over at her, "I don't know what you mean" honestly answering her, "I don't see any different,...do I Gray?" asking, she turned to face the ice mage who seemed a little exasperated.

"I'm not getting involved" bluntly telling them as he tried to ignore the water mage 'stalking' over him from behind.

Darting her eyes, the blonde felt a little betrayed, though he seemed to not care at all either that once more he had stripped down, "Nevermind..." sighing, she gave up as she fell to the table, "In any case, I'm going to get some rest" stretching out, "I wanna write some more before the festival tomorrow~" excited, the celestial mage left in a light hurry.

The words the blonde had said made her wonder. Was there any real change with her? Sure, when she began to think about it, she felt,... lighter. If she could label it. She had spent years since her childhood under the suffocating weight of her past, and even though she joined this guild, the weight was still there, anchored to her. It wasn't until she re-encountered her past head-on, that reduced her from the strong powerful mage that she became to the child that was stuck in slavery. Though, perhaps Lucy was right, that something about her had changed. Thinking about it was a little too much though, as everything felt a little more muddled than usual. As usual, she instead began to focus on her treat before her, knowing that at least she had that to help situate and allevate the mood.

"Seriously?" a voice popped out, causing everyone to stop for just a moment. It was Natsu who had just woken up from his sleep and made his way out of the guild hall, alongside the exceed, "I get knocked out and you guys throw a party?" holding his head just a little, "Ugh,... I feel like when Igneel would whack me for not paying attention" lightly dreading some memories. "Oh?" for a moment, he caught a glimpse as Erza angrily made his way towards him, "E-Erza?!" wondering what she could have a reason to be angry, he began to recall, "W-Wait! I-"

Before he had an opportunity to finish, she dropped kicked him back into the infirmary much to the light shock of everyone else in the guild, and as she got back to close the door, she noticed Mira just had her usual smile as she simply waved at them, a little bothered before she managed to lock it shut. Finally at a spot where it was just them, she relaxed and calmed down just a little before turning around to face the dragon slayer a little dazed from the 'assault' she inflicted on him. Though, as much as she wanted to say it 'normally' she felt this was the only way she could get the point across to everyone she 'wanted to be alone' with the pinkette, as she feared that they were bound to get it wrong or find some other insinuation had she said it normally. Was she angry? She wasn't sure, but there was a strong feeling she wanted to express. Making her way over, Natsu had eventually regained his composure once more as she hadn't put too much force into the kick, but she needed just enough to kick him back into the infirmary.

"Did it hurt?" she asked him, a little stern with her arms crossed.

Shaking himself back into his senses, "Of course!" lightly snapping at her, "Sheesh, I'm sorry if you got mad I hit you earlier, but I had no choice" grumbling a little to her.

"The kick wasn't for that" bluntly telling him. Lowering to his level, she sent a light glare his way, "It was for getting yourself hurt, idiot" scolding him. "I'm stronger than you, and if you had let me take it I wouldn't have had to wo-" thinking about what she was going to say next, her face burned just a little, "Nevertheless! Point is..." coughing just before she had said that, "You need to be mindful of your actions" lightly telling him, "You made a huge deal about 'self-sacrificing' and you go off and do that!" telling him. Though, the way she was saying didn't seem to be helping in the least. Perhaps, she was still mad at him for what happened back in the tower. "How... is your body feeling?" asking him, changing her tone just a little.

Averting his gaze just a little, "Fine I guess..." looking over to face her, "Wh-"

Before he could finish his words, she pulled him into a tight embrace, holding him against her. A little, she tightened her embrace just a bit to match the little spot of worry she had. She didn't know why, but embracing him felt warm. It was a light comfort she felt, and a reason she felt she couldn't let go, so she continued to hold him close like that time. Maybe she had changed, even just a little. Like that, the anxious feeling melted away the longer she hugged onto him.

He was reckless, stupid, and made horrible decisions. Their experience together told her that much. It wasn't hard for anyone else to know it either, but even she knew there had to be a limit to how brash someone could be. Though, deep down she remembered the reason why Natsu had done what he did back then and now. For him, it was fine if something had happened to him because she shared that same mentality as him for a while. Sacrificing ones own self to save the rest they 'considered' family. However, she learned to know that she would have made everyone sad, especially him. There was a chance that he felt it was fine if he took her place. Although, the more she thought about it, if there was anyone who wouldn't like it if he had gone. Sure there was a lot of them who would miss their dragon slayer. Especially. No. _Definitely_...would miss him.

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 **A/N: Yaaaayyyyy chapter 4 is done! :D BEFORE I FORGET- || Next Chapter takes places AFTER The Laxus fight (: This is all BEFORE :D ||I had wanted to type the reasoning behind the stuff in the last chapter this time, but I was kindly advised to... uh... spoilers! :D (Darky that isn't nice...) But yeah, wow this was a doozy to write :zzz: I wasn't sure what to do because I was wanting to keep that next chapter secret AAHAHAHAHHA (Sorry Darky is mean this week) I'm not mean ;w; Besides! I'm sure people'll guess what next chapter is going to be like anyways 'cause of this title -Looks up- (Didn't you change it to annihilate spoilers?) AH, right xD. But yeah! I hope this chapter was good (: I'm still going for the angle I planned on earlier. I was gonna make this longer, but I felt I ended this on a good note :D Andddd what else :zzz: (Uh, explaining the scene?) oh right! Originally I wanted to make it super tragic :D ^^ (Folks, be wary, too much lovey usually means SOME god-horrific tragedy may occur later) Hey! spoilers ;w;. No but I'm not entirely sure where to do it (: I may just make a one-shot series (Amongst the other) when I feel the need to make things super depressing :heart: or tragic :heart: (Darky... all your stories have SOME tragedy...) Hey! Not all of them ;w; (All the original ones... some of your fics) :sobs: But yeah! Lemme know what you think (: How do you feel about NatZa's progress? (Darky is also taking a short break :heart) oh right, forgot that. XD. But yeah, Let me know what you think :heart: :heart: :heart:**


	5. Bonds

_**A/N: Important note down below! This used to be A LOT of angst, but after Route XX I've kind of 'drained' of all my angst (: edit: There's a new poll! Choose who appears in the Titania Sequel! (:**_

 **Chapter 5: Bonds**

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 _ **~2 Years Earlier, Mirajane Strauss' POV~**_

It was a cold and stormy night, and everyone was in mourning as the Strauss siblings had come back of their failed quest to subdue a monster, and struck with tragedy. When they came back to tell everyone the news, everyone was devastated to have found that they had been so careless to have allowed their youngest sibling to pass like that. Elfman had tried to use Take Over on a large monstrous creature because she had been too careless with her job, having run out of magic and taken too much damage to use 'Satan Soul' so that she couldn't have either stopped her younger brother or prevent the out of control Strauss sibling from going on a rampage, which had resulted in the loss of their sibling, who had tried to talk him out of it. The feeling of her heart being sunk at that very moment lingered, and the worse, was the look of the dragon slayer when he had learned of the news. There was no words, no expression as he had tried to process it all. Of all the guild members, he was probably the closest to her, heck, they raised and hatched the exceed together when they were kids. From the moment they returned they expected him to be angry with them, spouting how 'he should have gone with them'..maybe he could have prevented it.

Alone, sitting at the front of the bar, the eldest Strauss was sitting at the front with empty glasses as she rested on the table, trying to get herself drunk enough to wash away the ugly feeling she had. Elfman had gone out in shame for his actions, stating he had failed as an older brother to their youngest sibling, and she wasn't sure when he was going to come back. She was the eldest, and so all the shame and responsibility fell onto her. No one had heard from Natsu either, or Happy, wondering where the two had gone too. He hadn't even bothered to fight with Gray on the day they last saw him, no matter what insults he said on that day, even if it were to snap him out of it. Well, perhaps it was because he had punched him so hard he had actually left lasting pain before leaving. Either way, the entire guild was worried.

"Eh...?" she was a little out of it, but she had heard the guild doors kicked open, coming in with the pouring rain that was outside. Hearing the foot steps approached, she waited and had noticed that the dragon slayer had slumped onto the table beside her, having placed the blue cat on the table, "...Natsu" calling out to him, he looked like a mess. Like he was out for days punching and/or wrecking stuff to get some form of release for days, and the bags under his eyes were darkened as if he hadn't slept in forever.

A little worn out, he rested on top of the counter, "Hey, Mira..." commenting, a little tired, "Sorry,...I didn't know anyone was still here, it's kind of late,...don'tcha think?" asking. His tone was a little muggy and worn out. He hadn't noticed the glasses of empty beer glasses, though, it was probably because he likely couldn't see too well. Vision probably blurry.

"What about you..." lightly narrowing her gaze at him, "You walk in after being gone for days and weeks,... and you look like you haven't even slept..." commenting, "Then again look at me... the only way I can sleep is after four or five glasses..."

Yawning, he made himself comforting on the table, using his arms as a pillow, "Eh... Lisanna and I used that place as our 'hang out'" he began to tell her, "...it didn't help that she had that 'nasty' habit of making me say 'I'm Home' every time we went there..." a light fluster on his face, "Jeez... that girl... making me say embarassin' things..."

"Hah..." chuckling a bit, "That was her..." reveling in the small memory of her sister. After a moment, the warm feeling had faded, forcing the realization to creepily make its way back to her. He wasn't angry, but perhaps that was because he was too tired to be mad at her, "Listen,... Natsu..." growing a little solemn, "That day...you...I should have convinced Elfman to let you come..." admitting to him, "If... then,... she wouldn't..."

Yawning, cutting her off, "It was an accident..." telling her, though it must have been hard for even him to tell her those words, "If you're tryin' to get me to get mad at you... it's not gonna work..." saying, sinking a little further into his arms, "Well... even if I wanted to my body is so sore I don't think I could even do anythin' about it..." admitting.

Even if he had said something like that, it wasn't like her guilt could just wash away like that. For him, it was probably hard to even say or think those words, though, it was also likely because she was in pain as well. The two had actually hardly got along, one of the reasons because her little sister was always around him, and the second, well, the other reason was primarily he was part of 'Erza's Clique' as she liked to call it, and up till recent, her and the scarlet knight would always get into scuffles here and there, much like he and Gray did. This was probably the 'nicest' times they've ever spoke to another when she got to thinking about it. Being the 'Demon' of Fairy tail, well, former, she was the one of the other that had no problems pushing around the little pinkette as she saw fit.

"Y'know..." he spoke out, catching what little of her attention was still untouched by alcohol, "I was thinkin' about makin' that home a place to just keep stuff..." he tiredly began to tell her, "Can't really sleep in it without thinkin' about it... but eh,... seems like a great place to put memories don'tcha think?" turning to face her, he put on a large smile, despite being so tired. "So... if you have any spare pics or anythin' I'll be willin' to take them off your hands" he told her, "I mean... not like it's a fun place to stay for too long as it is".

The eldest Strauss was a little taken back on the situation the dragon slayer was in. Sure, she had problems sleeping at her own place seeing as she shared it with her sister, but she kind of felt 'comforted' she wasn't alone in this matter. Not that it was in any way she was glad he was suffering, and while her brother was feeling the same kind of devastation, she just felt a little relief she could have someone at this moment to 'share' her pain with. It was then that for the rest of the night, the two of them talked, and talked, exchanging stories and talking about the person they both cared about, laughing at the bits that were happy, doing their best to keep their spirits up. Slowly, she began to feel better, even it was just a little, and before she knew it, the two of them had fallen asleep right on the counter of the bar. For the first since her death, the two of them were able to sleep and have a night's rest without having the need to resort to some other need to get them to rest. And as morning would come, she woke up, expecting the headache she thought she'd get for having downed that many glasses of alcohol the night before. Looking over at him, she could tell that it was a nice change of pace for him, and that he could have used a nice sleep.

Before she knew it, days would pass by, and the same situation would happen. At night the two of them would hang out at the bar, and slowly her drinks would decrease the more she and the pinkette hung out, talking and exchanging stories. Their talks of the deceased Strauss sibling had came to a slow halt, but she knew it was still a fair reminder of why they were there in the first place. They would talk stories about what happened during the day, as the dragon slayer would make frequent visits back to the guild, getting into more fights with his 'rival'. Or the times he'd talk about how Erza had stopped his fights again with said rival. She even managed to cheer up her brother, and it wouldn't have been long until everything in the guild 'felt' a little more 'normal'. Heck, she even started helping Natsu with his little 'wall of memories' thing he had told her about, well, just a little to get him started.

Though, she couldn't but still feel a little 'loss' over her magic. It wasn't gone, but since the loss of her sister she felt like there was a 'strange' block that was preventing her from accessing her magic. There wasn't a major loss, but eventually it came to a point that she felt there wasn't more she could contribute since she had become a mage that couldn't even use her own magic anymore. And for him, had always made a habit to sleep at the guild because it was the only place he had that wasn't 'there'.

Sitting up at the bar once more, she was a little bummed about her inability to use her magic once more, "You seem a lil glum" hearing that, she looked to see the pinkette was still there tired once more from the day, "Still can't use your magic?" he had asked.

"Eh..." groaning a little, "Not that I can't use it..." she told him, "It's just the majority of it..." telling him, "Namely, my specialty, 'Take Over'" sighing she felt a little exhausted on the table, "Seriously, what use is 'The Demon' of Fairy Tail who can't even use her 'Satan Soul'?" questioning, a little annoyed with herself.

Yawning, he made his way up, "Well..." hopping over, he looked around, "That's a good question..." a little dulled as he thought about it, "It's like... I couldn't be a dragon slayer if I well... didn't have the magic... or...you know what I mean" a little worn out.

"My point" darting her eyes towards him, "Besides, what're you doing back there?" asking, "I don't think Master Makarov would like knowing you're blowing up his kitchen in the middle of the night".

Smirking he passed a smile, "I may not look it! But I can cook a mean meal" determined, "I got some lessons hammered into me".

"Hah! You? Cook?" teasing him, "Fine, make me something then..." it was then her expression darkened, "...And if I don't like it... you'll...huh..." thinking about it, "Let's see... You'll have to be my slave until I say so" crossing her arms with a devilish smile, "I've always wanted a pet dragon~ I'll show that tin can who's boss still".

Fired up, there was no way he was going to lose to the elder Strauss, "Oh, then I'll make a meal so delicious! That...uh..." dulling for a second, "Wait... what do I get when I win?" questioning.

"Hmm..." thinking over it, "Hows this, you win, and I'll help you with your little 'Wall of Memories' stuff full time?" making a deal. "And I don't mean to just give you shitty pictures... I'll _literally_ go out of my way to help you keep memories of everyone. Deal?"

Raring, the dragon slayer got excited, "DEAL! Get ready, I'm going to cook your ass off!" saying as he ran into the back kitchen.

"..." her eyes blinking for a moment, she wasn't sure what he said and if he realized how wrong it sounded.

Rolling around a little, the exceed was woken by the aroma that was starting to form, "Mmm...?" yawning, he woke up a little, stretching as he looked to see Mira just sitting there. Looking around, he wanted to know where Natsu was, "Natsu...? Hey, Mira" calling to the former she-demon, "Where's Natsu?"

"Natsu?" questioning, "He's in the back. We have a bet going where if I say I don't like the food he cooks he's going to be my slave" bluntly telling him, "Why?"

His expression shot open, "NATSU'S COOKING?!" the expression on his face was one she wasn't sure what to make of, "I didn't miss it did I?!"

"Uh no... why?" asking, she was a little unsure what the little blue cat was getting to when he seemed a little wary of it, "Is he really that bad?" the thought of him failing and him being her slave began to excite her already. Even though she hadn't yet heard the response, she was already envisioning him all tied up and used as her footstool, or her dragon as she 'attacked' and used as a scapegoat against the Titania.

Curious to why she was fawning over her thoughts, he simply answered her, "Nope, he's amazing!" he told her, "In fact, Natsu is probably a better cook than you are" trying to hold in a laugh. Though he had only received a darkened glare from the take-over mage.

Still, she couldn't believe that the pinkette could even cook anything, as she always pegged him as the kind of person who really just bothered to eat stuff at the guild because he didn't know how. However, by the time he had finished cooking in the back, she herself wasn't sure on how to take it because she didn't want to have to lose to someone younger, especially in a field where she believed he was horrible at. Though, he had finished up and made his way back in, having made one of her favorite meals. Hesitant, she took a bite from the meal he had made, she began to understand more now how he had learned to cook. It was a warm, cold feeling. There was no doubt that it tasted great, but she could feel the warmth in the food as she knew one other cooked like this. Because, only two others knew what food could always cheer her up.

There were a lot of surprises she would later found out about him, a few of them being his increased talked about the Titania. And although he didn't see it himself, the way he talked about her, even as frustrated as he may have been with whatever she did, there was always the hint of something that he was probably too blind to see, perhaps because he himself didn't want to admit or probably knew. This, of course, kind of pestered her a little, but at the same time she was perhaps a little happy for him, and she wanted to do her best to at least support him in any way she could. Even if all it was was taking pictures and letting him sleep in the back room.

-[x]-

 _ **~Present Moment, Erza Scarlet's POV~**_

The day of the festival came and went as earlier they had to deal with Laxus and the other member's of his 'Thunder God Tribe' which resulted in Laxus being excommunicated permanently from the guild for forcing and endangering the lives of all his guild mates and the townspeople. They were lucky that there weren't that many people hurt by what the lightning dragon slayer had done, but the Master was still furious at the actions of his own grandson for doing something like that just out of his own reasoning. It wasn't malicious, the male blonde had simply just loved his guild and was frustrated with how many people would bad mouth it because of the recent attack from Phantom Lord. Luckily, she and the others were able to put a stop to his little 'game' and take care of his Thunder God Tribe, while Natsu and Gajeel teamed up to take out the other dragon slayer from making things worse. Though, that wasn't all that had happened, Mystogan had returned from wherever he usually goes whenever he wasn't doing a job, and because of his little clash with the lightning thunder dragon, something she had not expected to happened had occurred.

For the first time since he joined Fairy Tail, Mystogan had always been 'secretive' in both his personality and his appearance, having never really stuck around long enough. Only a couple knew what he looked like, and apparently there was a reason why he kept it a secret. It was because he was the striking resemblance,...of Jellal Fernandez. No, in fact that was his name, as he said to both her and Natsu that he 'wasn't the Jellal' they knew, and he had hid his appearance for her own sake. Still,... seeing the face of her former flame had stirred some dark feelings in her.

She had broken away from the festivities after the parade was over, leaving the rest of the guild and townspeople to revel in the joy of the festival. It wasn't like she didn't want to partake, but rather because at the moment everything had been such a shock for her that she wasn't sure how to take it all. The last time she had seen 'her' Jellal, or rather, the Jellal that she knew, he had tried to kill her back in the Tower of Heaven, and the result of that was the pinkette having almost been critically injured trying to protect her. Even now, with her 'bonds' cut and freed from the past, she had felt a little restrained upon that revelation. Thinking, it was kind of difficult for her to process all that had happened, especially since she had thought things were starting to look up. Regardless of the reason, she found herself sitting alone on the grassy hill as she held her legs up against her chest, trying to sort her head out.

"...Jellal..." thinking to herself as she stared at her reflection. They hadn't left on the best of terms in both times they had been apart, for some reason it felt like fate was tearing them apart in the cruelest of ways. One way or another, she had wished things weren't so troubling, and that she could move on from how things were. Breathing in a little deep, "...I know he's not the same, but...-"

Her thoughts were cut as she saw someone in the reflection begin to make his way. He had ruffled pink/salmon hair, with a scarf that looked like they were made of dragonscales wrapped around his neck, "Lookin' mighty glum, Erza" it was Natsu. Looking like he had finally gotten out of the terrible damage their former guild mate had put them through, "Whatcha doin' all the way here?" asking, his hands rested behind his head.

"I want to be alone" telling him, not having the energy to look at him or bother scowling, "It's why I purposely went all the way out here to avoid getting involved with anyone" sighing, she didn't have the energy for this, "So... if it's all right with you-" before she could finish her sentence the dragon slayer had dropped down beside her, and with a large stretch and yawn had just simply fallen to the side, resting his head up against her shoulder, "-Didn't you just hear what I said?!" getting lightly annoyed with him.

Worn out, he simply just sat there, dozing off a little, "I'm a dragon slayer, Erza" reminding her, "I hear, smell, and probably see things far more than a normal person can... so yeah I heard you" telling her.

"...Then are you trying to irritate me?" asking him, while she didn't dislike having the pinkette around, this was certainly not one of the times she had wanted him around. Usually because the last time the two of them were involved in _that_ matter, it didn't end so well for either of them. She was forced to watch her former crush kill one of their friends, Natsu was badly injured, and she, well, she had almost lost everything that was important to her all in a single night. "Seriously, Natsu, this isn'-"

Cutting her off, he yawned a little more, "Y'know... you were pretty much the same to me when Lisanna passed away..." reminding her, "I told you I wanted to be alone and for a while you respected that,... until you got mad I hadn't shown up in the guild for over a week" commenting, "And,...well..." a little frustrated, "I'm not too good at all that... caring stuff you did... so this is all you get" saying as he made himself a little more comfortable on her shoulder.

She had remembered that time, a couple years ago after Lisanna had passed away. Everyone in the guild was at a loss, and the ones who took it the hardest were her siblings and Natsu. There were moments that neither had really shown up to the guild anymore, but people had figured Mira was drinking away her sorrows from all the empty glasses that would be there upon the morning, and both Elfman and Natsu were gone for weeks without a word of where they were. Eventually though, she had managed to find him stumbled in the woods while she was on a job and although she had understood his reasoning, she was more or less furious with the way he was 'dealing with it'. It wasn't anything directly bad, but he had been on a 'light' rampage, wrecking and destroying things, she could recall just how badly damaged he got himself for being a little too reckless.

-[x]-

 _ **~Flashback~**_

She had just finished another job since the rest of the guild were still mourning after the loss of the Strauss sibling, and while she too wasn't sure how to handle it, going on a tough mission was the only thing she could think of to get her mind going. It wasn't about the reward, the fact she was helping others always was a treat in itself, but the harder the mission, the more she'd have to focus, getting her mind off of it. Needless to say everyone had their own means to do so, she just found it easier to be alone whenever something like this had happened. There were no real reason why she had decided to do that, it was just in her nature. Close off everything that could correlate with that particular emotion, and press on. Though, perhaps that there was another reason, being that she was a little concerned because she had heard in the the guild that some of the members hadn't shown up for a while. That had really only made the atmosphere a little harder for her to fathom, so, seeing that, the only way she knew how to get out of it was to just 'get out' and take a breather. Soon, everything was going to be back to normal, more or less, and all she needed to do, was press on, because she felt there was no one she could go to about these sort of matters. Not anymore.

Eventually, she had made her way to a desolate part of the forest, but she had found it odd that under all the rain and dampness that there was smoke brewing that raced to the sky. Normally there shouldn't have been much of a concern, but considering that the longer she stared, she saw another burst of flames that explode into the skies. That was what drew her attention. Rushing over, with all her remaining strength, she followed the sounds and the smell of fire, something she didn't think she could do in how much rain there was around. And as she got in closer, the air around got hotter, and the smell of smoke got a little thicker, she began to understand why it was like that. Panting was heard, and as she stood in the shadows of the trees, she watched as the lone dragon slayer was seemingly smashing his fists into the ground, trees, rocks, anything he could find. His hands were battered, as she looked around, she understood why, because around him was a burnt remainder of what used to be the forest. By the looks of it, he probably had been at this for days, maybe even weeks.

She couldn't see outright, but this was probably his way of grieving and he didn't want anyone to see him like this. It wasn't a surprise. Lisanna was probably the closest person he had, and probably held close to him with the other being his dragon father. She could relate to this, though. Remembering the time she left the tower and made her way here, she made herself strong up till her way here, but even she had her moments that she tried to hide from everyone. A part of her wanted to leave, understanding he wanted to be alone, but she had found herself walking towards him. "Natsu" calling out to him, getting not a response from the pinkette. "Natsu... are you listening to m-" pulling him up by the collar, she could see that he was doing his best to hold himself back from crying, and he was failing miserably.

"Get away from me..." saying, she couldn't understand what it was until he had said it once more, "I said I want to be alone!" pushing her off, even if it meant he fell to the ground.

A little peeved, she had wanted to beat him for what he had done, especially since he hadn't tried to be 'careful' about it, but looking at his state, she realized she would only be adding to what he had already done to himself. Frustrated, there weren't many options she had, but one thing she did know. She hated to see him like this. "That's it..." making her way over to him, even as he shot flames off at her direction, that just either grazed her or missed at all, she ignored the 'threats' of his and picked him up once more by the collar, "Look at yourself" she told him, locking his eyes with hers, "Do you think Igneel would be happy if he saw you like this?! Would Lisanna be happy if she saw her closest childhood friend beating himself over for something he didn't have any control of?!" shouting at him.

"What do you know!?" trying to force himself away from her, "No one ever believed me about Igneel! Everyone just made fun of me every time I said my dad was a dragon!" telling her, frustration mixed with tears, "Lisanna was the only one who di-"

Without a second thought, she slapped him. "Of course we believed you!" telling him straight to his face. "That's what it's about, being in Fairy Tail, Natsu" scolding him, "We believe and have faith in each other when no one else will" reminding him. She didn't know whether or not he was listening, wondering if the force of the slap had 'knocked' him a little senseless, "But you acting like this... what do you think Igneel would say if he saw you like this?" asking him. "It's understandable... you're in pain... but beating yourself up like this isn't going to make anyone feel better, they're going to feel worse about it!" lecturing him. Sighing just a bit, she fixed him up a little, feeling a little 'guilty' if anything, "Remember what I told you when you first came... you're in Fairy Tail" telling him, "You're surrounded by friends,... and all of your friends are like your family. When one of us hurts, we all hurt. And if someone hurts one of us... we all go out to 'avenge' that person" telling him.

"..." a little silent, he didn't know what to say. The sting on his face from where she slapped him still was left there, perhaps because she still had her metal gauntlet on. In fact, if it wasn't for her probably 'holding back' his head would've been knocked off.

Finishing patting him off, she fixed his scarf a little, "If you have to hurt... be hurt... but don't forget your family will always be there for you" she told him a little sternly, "And if I ever see you again like this... I'll hit you even harder... got it?" wanting to make herself clear.

Even though he hadn't said anything, he gave her a light 'nod', as if that was enough for her. A part of her felt it was a little her fault considering that she had slapped him when he was already probably weak, but as long as he was somewhat functioning still, it was good enough for her. Seeing that he had understood and gotten her message, she brought him in for a hug, forgetting as usual, her armor was on and she had instead crushed him up against it in a sudden pull. Realizing the folly of her actions, she would later try to find a remedy for that, but for now, she was glad she could at least do something for a fellow guild mate of her. There were many more things she had wanted to tell him, but felt that since he was in this state, there was no need to tell him that. She just wanted him to cheer up, and be the person she always saw him as. Reckless. Brash. Maybe a little dumb. But the one thing she always knew that correlated to what and who 'Natsu Dragneel' was, was a person with a big heart, who wouldn't back down from anything that went up against him. Who'd laugh and be with his fellow guild mates, bringing happiness to them, and still a little dumb enough to run up against Laxus or Gildarts whenever the moment would arise. Looking back, when he first announced that he was the son of a 'Great and Powerful' dragon such as Igneel, whether he knew it or not, had already shown that. Because only dragons could be strong, daring, reckless, and kind. And that's the only combination the 'son of a dragon' could ever be.

 _ **~End of Flashback~**_

-[x]-

Sighing just a little, she didn't want to argue with him and she just accepted it. He probably knew what was she thinking about and probably was just ignoring the topic out of respect for her since there wasn't much he could probably say that would cheer up. It wasn't a shock that was the case, she's known him to be fairly begrudging, and if anything he would probably just say something like 'Well! he's just a jerk, Erza' or 'He's not worth your sadness!' well, something along those lines. Even if they had some truth behind it, it was still so much she didn't know why she held onto. Maybe, regardless, there was a part of her that felt betrayed and hurt and still wanted to see if she could 'save him'. What she did know, was that everything was still a clouded mess for her. For so long, she hid herself behind that armor of hers, so that she wouldn't get hurt anymore or would have to feel anything. Lucy had gone on and on about her 'having changed' but had she? Everything still seemed the same for her. She was strong. Responsible. Always caring for her friends and guild mates. Had she really changed? The more she tried to think, the less it made the same to her.

Yawning, "I'm gettin' hungry..." complaining a little, the dragon slayer's words kind of broke her out of her thoughts, "Hey... wanna go back and get some food?" asking, "I haven't seen but I heard they're serving some really good stuff out there!"

"Natsu... not right n-" as she turned to face him, she saw the happy expression on his face. He was so happy, just thinking about all the stuff out there. Thinking for a moment, she wondered how he was always so cheerful, but at the same time, wondered why Mira had told her something so troubling that night. "...Natsu..." calling out to him, "...is it true that...you don't sleep at home because being there makes you sad?"

Hearing that popped the happiness bubble he was in, "...Mira told you, didn't she?" a little bothered, "Sheesh... I liked her better when she was a demon... she didn't go tellin' people everything like world news" dulled. Sighing quite a bit, "That's kinda the case..." eventually admitting to her, sitting there like he had still, "You just don't go forgettin' people like that..." slowly getting up, stretching out, "But...Igneel...Lisanna..." listing the people he had lost, "I always get the feeling I shouldn't stay sad over something like that..." scratching the back of his head, "I mean... they still existed right?" smiling back at her, "It's just I don't have a real use for home anymore... I mean I put stuff in it yeah,... buuuuttt... eh" coming to a sudden halt with his train of thought, "It's more fun being around you... Happy...Mira...Luce..."

"...It's fun being around me?" a little dumbfounded hearing that, "Are you sure you're the real Natsu?" questioning him a little, "The 'real' Natsu is always terrified of me... and I always get the feeling he and his little buddy Gray talk bad about me behind my back" narrowing a gaze at him.

Dulling his eyes at her claim, "...To be honest...the only 'little buddy' I have is Happy..." telling her seriously. "And of course I'm terrified of you!" telling her straight up, "I mean I'm afraid of Igneel...well... I was" correcting his statement, "But I have as much fun with you as I had with Igneel, why else would I still be trying to fight you?" smiling a little sheepish, he held his hands behind his head in a childish manner.

"..." she was at a loss for words. "I see..." saying with a light smile, something she kept to herself.

Holding out his hand to her, "C'mon, Erza" calling out to her with a gentle smile, "I told you remember? We all stick together... and if anyone does anything remotely bad to you, you can count on everyone in Fairy Tail to have your back... just as long as they can wait behind me".

It was contagious, she felt. She couldn't tell whether or not his words were getting through to her, but she began to feel a gentle warmth beginning to brew a bit more than the night before. Why was it always warm? The little budding inside of her felt like it was the source of all her muddiness. And before she could think about it any further, he had grabbed her hand, rushing them off to where all the festivities had. Warmth began to singe further, but it wasn't magic. A part of her felt that since that day in the Tower, he had done more than 'destroy' the ties that bound her to the past, that he had released things she hadn't felt in a long time. But at the same time, she wasn't sure what they were. What she did know, was that she felt a warm admiration for his burning spirit that reminded her of the kind of person she was. Fearless, strong, and importantly, a warm love for everyone she cared about. Perhaps, that was what she was feeling, years worth of caring and admiration that she had cold-heartedly locked away behind that suit of armor, a burning feeling she had never been able to express until now.

-[x]-

The streets of magnolia were filled with love and cheer as the festival were going underway, realizing that if she had let herself wallow for so long she would have missed out on everything that was happening. Everyone was enjoying and having a fun time, all where she had looked she had remembered that it was a time to enjoy ones company, and not to relish in what had been. Fireworks were being launched in the air as the festival to continue underway, and the more she wanted to see and do, the more she wanted to rush. There were games, people were buying things in commemoration, tons of food from all over the stands were giving out. A part of her was happy, that the dragon slayer had popped on by, realizing what she would have missed if she had stayed in the state that she was in. Seeing her friends, out in the open enjoying their time, she had forgotten that each of them were important to her, and, if they were out in the same place, like Natsu...

Watching, she noticed the dragon slayer, alongside his friend Happy, were having a blast of a time eating all they could. He had seemingly worked up a huge appetite after his fight with Laxus and everything else that had happened during the day. The lightning dragon slayer, who was of the same S-Class group of her and Mystogan, the pinkette had managed to put down. Even if he had help from the iron dragon slayer, she couldn't help but feel a little taken back by how many surprises he had in him. Nothing would stand in his way if he was determined enough. He was a little rough around the edges, she felt, but without it it wouldn't have been him. Some girl was going to be lucky to have someone like him some day...

"Natsu!" calling out to him, she made her way over to the dragon slayer who was in the middle of a 'drinking contest' with Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker, Cana Alberona, "Come on, there are more things out to do than sit around" slightly lecturing him, "Besides... I don't want to be responsible for a drunk dragon slayer setting fire to the place just because he didn't want to back out of a challenge of our guild's heaviest drinker" lightly narrowing her eyes at him.

Looking at her a little blank, "Eh, drunk?" curiously asking her, "Why would you think that?" smiling a little large.

"Pssst..." the exceed floating beside her caught her attention, "Natsu can't get drunk, his magic burns it all" smiling a little mischievous at her.

Hearing it dulled the look of the Titania, "Then why were you challenging Cana?" she asked, a little lost if he didn't see the point of a challenge if he knew he was going to win.

"Because Cana doesn't know how to be quiet" saying as he dulled his eyes as the brunette across the table. "So! Cana... I'm about a drink ahead of you, have you given up yet?"

Slamming her fist on the table, "Hell...*hic* no!" saying with a light plastered look on her face, "I ain' gonna lose to you...Natshuu..." a little shaky, "Be-shides..." before she even bothered to finish her own sentence, she downed another glass in a second, slamming the mug on the table, "I've ju-shht... evened it uppp..." smiling him down with immense confidence, "Yo-..you! Promishhed... me..." telling him, "Tha-" before she had finished her sentence, she fell into a light daze, losing focus.

The three of them watched the brunette a little longer, watching what she was going to do before she had fallen down on the table, probably having exceeded her limit in her bout against the dragon slayer. They had decided to wait a short while before confirming it, until the Titania and the dragon slayer, accompanied by the exceed would make their way off, carrying the drunken brunette with them just out of courtesy. It was a quick drop off to the guild, where Mira was still working at, cleaning up the place lightly, before they had decided to leave, noticing that the silver-haired barmaid was acting a little strange. She didn't quite get it, but there was an 'odd' sort of exchange of glances between her and the dragon slayer, and by the looks on his face whatever it was, he wasn't too happy about it. Though, not thinking too much of it, they had made their way back to the festivities, having already spent just a short time of it handling the card mage.

As they made their way back to the festivities, a lot of things were going on, and it seemed to them that even a lot more people had made their way in from out of town to check out the festival. It was crowded, to say the least, and as they were rummaging around to find their way through, they had bumped into someone by accident. It wasn't bad, but they felt a little guilty in particular because the person was carrying a large suitcase or briefcase from their manner, and she didn't seem like the person who could carry it so easily as she was a fairly young and thin girl. To have made matters worse, she had dropped some book with a title she couldn't make out.

"Ah! I'm so-" the young woman had said. She seemed like a scholar of sorts, at least what they figured. She had long dark hair with twin tails forming at the nape, and wore round glasses. As she got a look at them, her face beamed, "S-Salamander and Titania of Fairy Tail?!' shrieking in happiness.

The two of them looked at another a little clueless before the dragon slayer had responded, "...Uh... you know of us?" looking at her a little blank.

"Of course of course!" happy she hurriedly shook both of their hands, "I didn't think I'd se-" coughing, she "Ahem... I mean, yes. I've heard of you of course" telling them, her tone growing slightly monotonous, "Hasn't everyone in Fiore?" smiling a bit bright at them. The two of them stared at her a little oddly as she quickly gathered her things. "I'm sorry, I must be on my way. There's a new treat stand and I'm just dying to get through this book! I think I finally fi-" coughing once more, "I mean... I heard it was a good book".

Curious, only the scarlet knight looked intrigued, "Oh? What's it called?" a little eager to know, "I might want to re-"

"Nothing!" a little defensive, she held the book tightly to her, "It'd be spo- I mean, you wouldn't like it" correcting herself, "Besides, I feel guilty as it is taking up this much of your time" bowing before them, "Have a great night!".

As the two of them fell into confusion, the looked at another before facing the woman. Except as they had, she was gone like she was never there. Even Natsu, with all his heightened senses couldn't trace where or how she left in such a moment like that. Though, one thing was for sure, something about her had seemed a little odd. Either way, the didn't want to waste anymore time, so the two of them tried to just ignore that little 'odd moment' and continue on their way to see what was there to be found. It wasn't hard to believe that somehow they might see her again, thinking perhaps one way or another they'd run into such a 'fanatic' like that in this large crowd, but seeing as she wasn't too particularly dangerous, they had decided to ignore it and push on to the rest of the festival.

Eventually, some how making their way out of the huge mess of the crowd, both the Titania and the dragon slayer was able to find their way to all the festivities. It was full of food stands, games, a lot that had caught their eyes, especially the Titania's. There was one game, though, that had definitely caught her attention.

"Oh look" pointing out at some of the festivities there were a wide variety of games around, "They have that game Mira had us go through during the Team competition" the Titania pointed out, "What say you? Think you can beat me in a contest of strength" well, one that wasn't rigged, she had added in her mind.

Feeling excited, "You bet ya!" getting a little excited over it, "Wait... we're not gonna bet anything are we?" falling slightly dead-sih.

"No" blankly looking at him. It was a little odd that she had thought something of that, "But if you want, we can be-"

Shaking his head and hands frantically, cutting her off, "N-Nooo... that would be fine" a little dreadish, "Let's just do it for fun" smiling a little nervously, a couple sweat drops falling.

"O-Okay..." a little odd, she looked at him slightly awkwardly.

The two of them stood side by side, in front of two similar game machines. Since they both knew the 'original point' of the game - having done a version of it for their Team competition - the only thing that was there was to see who could get the highest point. Loosening their arms, the two of them were going to put their all into this, even if it were a simple game meant for enjoyment. And as they grabbed the hammer, relaxing their breathes, they brought it up before using all their strength, and poured it into the hammer, striking the bell up top. There was no doubt that Erza's strength and force allowed her to easily strike the bell up top, claiming victory for her, though whether he knew it or not, the dragon slayer's instinct to 'put his all' usually involved mixing a bit of his fire dragon slaying magic, and while he 'did' technically win as well, it was with out not exploding the machine in a fiery mess, leaving the two of them stunned. Not because of the explosion, they both knew that Natsu was 'perfect' in the role of destroying things and sending it in a fiery mess. Them being stunned was just as a result of the fact both of their bells flew off into the sky before exploding, adding itself to the fireworks.

Nevertheless, perhaps out of just light fear or respect for the two of them, the man at the stand had both given them first prize stuffed bears just before postponing the next just because they had to wait a little for the next machines to be brought in. Holding the large piece of fluff in her arms warmed her comfortingly as she almost wanted to crush it with her strength, but she had refrained for now. She had gotten a large fluffy bear, as per the usual, and if almost to coincide with the dragon slayer, Natsu was given a sort of dragon plush, something he used to pretend to be Igneel with happiness. It was a little piece of treasure she felt, watching him rush around with the stuffed dragon plush.

-[x]-

Eventually, as the night grew long, and the festivals went on, the two of them found themselves roaming around the place looking for somewhere to eat after partaking in all the events they came on by. It was a little much, but seeing as she loved the thrill of just 'battling for first', and she, using the dragon slayer's 'love of competition', had dragged him along in all sorts of games that there were to play, obviously leaving it in a mess of ruin more or less. With all the prizes the two had one, she had simply just stuffed it in her spatial storage, seeing as alongside all of her weapons and armors, a few plush toys here and there didn't seem like a big deal, and since he didn't really find any of the stuff to be 'fun' to hold onto, he had just given them to her, seeing as she looked like she enjoyed the soft warm nature of the toys. As much as she wanted to 'argue' saying that his prizes were proof of his victory, he told her if he kept all of them he wouldn't have any room to put them in, sort of gaining her curiosity of how messy or stuffed his house may be.

After a short while of walking around, they had noticed that their friends were sitting at the table, well, Gray and Lucy to say the least. It was a simple looking place that served just about regular things, but the greatest thing was the view of the fireworks of where the table was situated at. Thinking it was a perfect time for the two, three if you counted Happy, of them made their way over to sit with their friends, seeing as everyone else was off busy with their Teams or just didn't want to sit at all.

"Glad you guys could make it!" the blonde had called, "Gray and I weren't sure if you were going to show up or not".

Stretching a little, the dragon slayer yawned just a little, "Sorry about that" dozing a little, "Erza and I wound up claiming victory at practically every stand there were".

"Basically they broke every game..." the exceed mentioned with a triumphant smile, "You shouldn't seen it! Fireworks were everywhere!"

Her arms crossed, even the Titania herself seemed a little proud of her achievement, "It was an entertaining time" nodding along the blue cat's words, "We not only bested every game, but we had also won the top prizes of each, haven't we Natsu?" asking.

"Yup!" stretching with a large smile, "No games were safe from the best of Team Natsu!" with a declaration like that, both he and the scarlet knight hi-fived another.

The two on the opposite sides of them couldn't help but feel a little off, hearing that their teammates had gone off just to 'wreck' all the games that they had to offer in a blazing trail. It was lucky that accidents like these were fairy common, especially if Fairy Tail mages were involved, but to hear that practically all the games they had to offer in a wreck made them wonder what the point of their 'Team Competition' was. Though, considering they were talking to the Titania and the Dragon of the guild, there was no surprise that something like that would fly over their head. What mattered though, was that it seemed like all of them were having a fun time, something Erza never thought she would.

"Oh, check it out" Gray had pointed out, "They're going for the massive display already!" saying, drawing everyone's attention.

Like the ice mage had said, the fireworks were beginning to pick up, increasing in pace and presenting a massive display. Each explosion brought another variety of colors and designs. She had seen them time and time before, since she joined Fairy Tail, but as she looked at the flashing lights up in the sky, she began to wonder what made them so different this year. Watching them, the light mesmerized her, catching her in a light trance as she continued to watch and gaze. It was like a fleeting work of passion that plastered itself in the sky, watching, she could feel her heart grow warm with every explosion. She could see in the corner of her vision, that she was surrounded by her friends, her family. And as she got a better look around, she was able to admire all of those around her. Gray. Lucy. Laki. Alzack. Levy. Bisca. Elfman... all of them she knew that she could count on, and knew that she would be there for them in just the same heartbeat she would. And as she continued her look around the place, her eyes eventually fell on the dragon slayer, who was kept focused on the fireworks.

He was brash, reckless, stupid, none which she found was ideal because it would often mean he'd willingly throw himself in danger if the need ever arose. Though, that was what she had found to be his greatest strength, how much he loved and cared for those around him. There was no doubt that perhaps, there was a person who could love and appreciate those around. Fighting, arguing, all of those things which some people hold close to reject a person. But with him, and surprisingly her, they weren't enough to hold them back if someone they cared for were in trouble. A part of her couldn't help but feel a tad jealous. He was going to make some girl very happy...

"Hm, Erza?" thinking that she was probably staring too long, he eventually caught wind of it, and had faced her. "...Is there something on my fac-"

However, with all the activities that were going on, the two of them were fixated on another, too distracted to see or control what was going to happen. It was like something was blurring out, but as they were stuck in their gaze with another...

"O-OI, J-Juvia!" the cry of the ice mage was made. Apparently, he was in a light 'disagreement' with what seemed to have been a fairly upset water mage, "N-Not right he-"

Before he could finish, a large whip of water, meant for the ice mage, had struck the dragon slayer, and crashing him into the Titania out of a sudden accident. Everything had happened in an instant, and as much as she knew, and when everything had began to pick up, she had realized what had happened. In a single moment, the dragon slayer had his lips pressed against hers, and in a rush, everything had exploded in a fiery pit of emotions that made its way out of her. Her face had burnt, flustered to what she felt was the most she could, and her heart was racing. And as the dragon slayer had regained his composure, he had realized what happened, and in a flustered state, backed off from the Titania. Jumbled, she wasn't sure what to think of what happened, but as it continued in the next few seconds, her heart beating faster, she did the only thing that 'felt right' at the moment. Tightening her fist, she had thrown all of her strength into a punch, knocking the dragon slayer off against some other people. In a rush, she got up, and made her way off, ignoring anyone that was around, and made her way off. Everything felt like a burning mess, but right now she just wanted to get away.

-[x]-

 _ **~The Next Day, Natsu Dragneel's POV~**_

It was a little rough for the pinkette, having to suffer a sudden beating that had happened out of his control. People around were talking about the festivals, some were talking about the fireworks, but for a small group of people, were talking about the 'event' that had happened prior before everything the pinkette's mind went blank. Precisely, in the moment the Titania decked him over something he didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. He was told he was out cold for a while, but honestly, he couldn't remember it all since just before everything went black, he woke up in the guild, and worst off, it was the next day. That had meant some point after he 'regained' conscious, he made his way stumbling over to the guild, got patched up a bit, and stumbled off into the bed Mira had made for him in the backroom. From what he could remember, he had a dragon plush, but he couldn't find it, thinking that someone must have taken it, or Happy must have flown it back home. Either way it was the least of his problems. Right now, the only thing he was concerned and worried about was how to face Erza after last night.

Sighing, he sat at the stool just in front of the guild bar. Mira was taking orders and delivering it, while Cana was off on her side of the bar trying to recover from her hangout. As for him, he was trying to find the right words and play that was going to happen when the Titania would come rushing through those doors, wondering if he had time to write his will before the scarlet knight beat him half to death, or death itself. Sighing, he fell flat on the table, trying to figure out why she was so angry. If it was fighting, well... just fighting, he could probably understand, but he knew that he wasn't so 'well versed' in the concept of 'love' or 'romance'. Either way, he needed to get as much time as he could just relishing in what time he had before his life would be dropped in hell.

"Ta~da~" saying, popping up in front of him, "Your favorite barmaid had procured the 'ultimate' memory for your 'Wall of Memories', Natsu~" saying as she presented him with a batch of fresh photos.

As he took a gander among all the photos she had taken, she didn't think any of them were 'too' bad. There were pictures of the parade going on, all the floats. Some of them were nicely shot. Then he started to feel a dreadful stab as he got to the rest of them. It was of him and Erza rushing around 'destroying' all the games, and as he got to the end, his face went pale. It was a picture of _that_.

"...I'm a little terrified you may be more stalkerish than Juvia..." he commented, looking at her filled with dread, "Besides... if Erza even SEES that... she's going to murder me..." he told her with a death expression. "Me" clarifying once more for her, "Not you..." adding on, "Me" hoping that she would get it.

Smiling, she merely just patted him, "Oh don't be like that~" trying to reassure him, "Besides... I need to ask" leaning on the table, propping herself up with her hands, "Are we still on for _that_?" asking him, "You seemed fairly urgent if you were in dire need to ask me that before you ran off to find Lil' Erza" she told him.

"...Please don't say it in a way that'll be misunderstanding" his expression getting worse, "I'm in enough shit as it is... please don't make it worse..." growing weaker, he limped on the table.

Patting the head of her friend, "Oh it'll be fine..." trying to help him, "I just need to know because you know the _price_ for it" smiling at him a little brightly.

"...If I do _that_ , Erza is going to DEFINITELY murder me" telling her with a paled expression, "I don't think I can handle too much death... I don't think it's healthy".

Pulling him up, she 'dusted' him off and fixed him up a little, "It'll be fine" smiling at him, "I got my powers back, remember? So if Lil' red gives you annnnyyyyy trouble, I'll make sure nothing happens" reminding him, "Besides... you _did_ say after what happened with Laxus, you felt there was no other way, remember?" smiling at him a little genuine.

"I know I know..." groaning a little, he reflected back on what Laxus had told him. It was probably the last thing he had told him, but he seemed fairly serious about it, and even if he didn't, the fight itself proved that he, once again, lucked out. "Fine. I'll do it" dulling his gaze at her, "But If Er-"

Before he could finish that sentence, the doors flung open, and metal steps could be heard. Everyone who was talking and chattering had fell silent just at the sight and sound, even the dragon slayer. Terror began to fill him as he began to realize who it was. Well, it wasn't that hard to seeing as there were already so few of them that could 'make him like this'. Not wanting to face her, he didn't want to say or do anything that could potentially make his situation worse, as she was probably still furious at what happened. The expression on the 'revitalized' demon's face hadn't changed, something he could tell just by looking at her. She was still smiling at the incoming scarlet knight, no sense of fear as the steps slowly began to make her way over to the foot of the bar, probably looking for him. Shivering, perhaps just a little, he realized that he got himself into this, and he would have to at least go on the offensive. If he died, well, least he did it his own way.

"Nat-" just reaching out to him, she had tried to get his attention.

Cutting her off, he faced her, swallowing what fear was there and looked her straight in the face, "Erza!" calling out to her, "I'm sorry about what happened last night!" suddenly realizing he was shouting, "I didn't mea-"

"Natsu!" forcefully stopping him, "...it's fine" telling him, allowing him to relax just a little, "I realized that maybe I was a little... hasty, but I know you wouldn't have done anything like that" telling him the conclusion she came to, "It was an accident, they happen... let's just... pretend it never happened okay?" asking, "...I'm sure you felt it meant nothing".

It was a little hard for him to get to understand what she was saying, "If..." though, the look on her face, made it seem like all of this was troubling her in some sort of way, "...Sure, Erza" smiling a bit, "If it'll..." shaking his words, "It meant nothing" smiling at her a little bright.

"Of course" smiling a little gentle, "As... long as you know that" feeling a little relieved, she exhaled, "Well... I'll be off" telling him, "I have a lot of work to do in Fairy Hills... so I'll see you around when we have jobs... right?

Smiling a little large, "Sure!" he held his hands behind his head, "Have..uh.. fun?" a little unsure how to say that.

With a nod, the Titania had made her way off, allowing the 'joyous' atmosphere to fill back in the place. Watching her leave, he wasn't too sure whether or not that went better than he had hoped, but the more he thought about it, he began to wonder if he could just 'pretend it never happened'. There was a strange sigh he let out as he tried to rest himself on the bar table, waiting for his little pal to come looking for him, assuming he must have crashed at Lucy's after the big event. And as the more he thought about it, he wasn't entire sure what he should have said. The picture in front of him was the only thing he had, but looking at it was almost like him revisiting that night. He couldn't deny that everything at that point was a blurry, hazy as hell, but the sensation he felt when he came to focus, was that it felt particularly 'good'. Though, it was the look on her face when she told him or asked if they could put it behind them, that she was just troubled behind it. He wanted to make her happy, that was easy to figure out. But he didn't know what having to hear and say those words kind of 'stung' him, even just a little.

* * *

 **A/N: AND IM DDOOONNNEEEEEEE, YAAAAYYYYY (Darky, don't forget!) Oh right. I have an IMPORTANT announcement to make. Seeing as how long it took me to write the finale to Two Titania's... which was like five days four..days...whatever. Point is, i've come to an important decision. While I'm not exactly going to abandon all my stories, i'd never do that to you people. I will be only updated ONCE or TWICE a week. If anything because I simply need time to rest... and I like this new format I'm doing of being more 'detailed' if it makes sense? Either way, I'm limiting to releases just once or twice. Meaning you might get 2 chapters of a story a week, maybe just one each, etc etc. I've tried before to keep up with three stories a week, and I was in light panic because sht would happen and I'd wind up falling behind. Truth is I like to try and update whenever I can because I know you guys are just excited to see what I have in store so i've tried to keep up with that. But yeah... I'm sorry for suddenly cutting my releases ;w;. Onto other matters, yeah I wanted to try and do this love story in a 'different' light. I want to express both sides inside of JUST one characters, and I feel a lot of the stuff that's important gets glossed over because from some people's POV it isn't proper? But after writing Two Titania's I've grown to LOVE writing mult. perspectives so that the story itself expands on multiple views. And for those who read 'Two Titania's and a Dragon' this story is just before it all. that story in particular splits off just after the Edolas arc (more on that when i get there) so this you can say is a 'prequel' as well as a 'alternate' route of that story. ALSO. The ending scene with Mira was based on a little 'joke' my friend (YAXON) and I made up for my little. He does GREAT stories, so go check em out (:. OOHH ONE MORE THING. I plan to actually WRITE an AU of Oracion Seis to coincide with this story. But I want to ask. Should it be in ONE part, or TWO? Let me know! :heart: Thank you all for your support, I hope my decision is okay! ;w;. So let me know how this chapter went! :heart: if you have questions, feel free to PM, any thoughts? What should be done with Oracion Seis? AS FAR AS I KNOW. I'm ONLY going to be going over the events as Natsu and Erza see it, and even so, it'll be AU considering what'll happen in this story, so it wont go EXACTLY like the arc, but again, more when I get there! :heart:**


	6. A Break

**Chapter 6: A Break**

* * *

 _ **~Natsu Dragneel~**_

The day was night and bright, sunny as the rays dawned on the sandy shores of the beach as the dragon slayer sits on the laid out blanket watching the Eldest Strauss sister pose as Jason from 'Sorcerer's Weekly' began to take photo shots of her. Yes, this was the 'price' he had to pay for going for the Silver-Haired barmaid for help. Unfortunately, seeing that the ride here was more painful for him, seeing as they had to take 'transportation' he was easily out cold the moment they made their trip and for now he was just resting as he waited from the Take Over mage to see if there was anything. Truth be told, he already knew what he had to do, noted by the several different swim trunks he had to wear and were presented to him prior to coming over, meaning when he had recovered from his motion sickness, he had to go up there with her and 'pose' seeing this was something she wanted. While there wasn't much of an issue with the concept, there were several things wrong he could see this playing out. One, considering that things between he and Erza were a little 'rocky' since the night of festival, the fact he was doing this had a point of 'worsening' what relationship he currently had with her. And Two, she and Mirajane were back on the horse of being 'rivals' as the eldest Strauss had finally regained her use of her 'Satan Soul', having used to to defeat Freed during the Thunder Palace take over. While he wasn't completely sure, he had a feeling that his life would end after this gets out, considering, for some reason, Erza and Mira always fought since she was so 'protective' against her... though maybe she just wanted an excuse to fight her.

Eventually, the dreading moment had come, knowing that he had finally recovered from the trip as Mira smiled over at him and waved at him happily as if nothing was wrong. Sighing a little, he wasn't sure if it was the fact he had to be up with her for a photo shoot that made him dreading it, or the added fact that she was the most popular model in all of Fiore, and considering he barely knew anything about romance, he knew even less about 'image' and 'popularity', but it wasn't a surprise that everyone in the world knew of her. Heck, even people in their Guild had a point of leering their eyes at her every now and then, not to mention that since Lisanna, the other Strauss sibling, Elfman, was also highly protective, meaning that if Erza didn't murder him, or her fans; Elfman would definitely have done so. Though, there was no way out of it, considering this was the only thing she mentioned that he could agree on to get her to help him with what he had asked of her.

"Natsu~" running over to him with a happy smile on her face, "Come on~ Jason said that he's ready to do the cover shots and said that he needs you to hurry up while the light is perfect" saying earnestly, "Don't forget, you promised me remember?~"

Yawning just a little, he stretched a little as he got up, "Are you sure about this...?" asking her with a light dull look on his face, "I'm not exactly 'photo' material... or whatever" telling her with an uninterested look on his face, "And why me? Aren't there much other guys... like... well" thinking for a moment. He had wanted to say 'Loke' but he had remembered he was a spirit, and that if Lucy caught wind of this, there was no doubt that there would be others wondering, "Or what about Ice Princess?" as much as he disliked his rival, he felt Gray was a better choice in all of this.

"Becaaauuussseee~" tugging at his arm, "I asked _**you**_ " reminding him, "C'mon... it's just a few pictures,... besides, maybe if you're lucky some cute girl is gonna see you and think 'I just wanna cuddle him' and who knows, she might take your mind alllll off that horrible red-head~" playfully poking at the bad memory he had.

Yes. It had only been a few days since the festival, but since then Erza had been a little 'off' even though they had both agreed to 'put it behind them' and pretend it meant nothing. There wasn't anything unusual, but lately she was more focused on the jobs they would go on, and not only that, almost like she was slowly reverting back to how she used to be before the whole deal with the Tower. Meaning, it wasn't hard for him to make up an excuse for him and Happy to be 'busy' for a couple days...or a week, though to be honest and a little aggravating, the other two members of 'Team Natsu' seemed a little 'too' relieved and glad he wasn't going to be around to bother or go on a rampage.

"Fiiinnneeee" groaning a little, he allowed the Silver-Haired Strauss sibling to drag him over to the spot where Jason was waiting, "It's not like any of them care anyways" sighing just a bit. "So... what do I have to do?" asking her as she walked along side of him.

Smiling, she happily locked arms with him playfully, "Just do what Jason asks and pose along side me~" happily telling him, "It's not fighting, but it is a little more relaxing than going on and wrecking stuff, don'tcha think~?"

"Honestly... I think i'd rather be blowing up a Dark Guild" telling her seriously, "Though, it's not like anything's been fun" sighing, remembering the situation with everyone back at Fairy Tail, "Though, after this you'll train me, right?" asking her.

Patting his head, fixing it and adjusting his scarf until he looked 'perfect', "Mhmm~" grinning a little soft, "I'll whip you into so much shape you'll be able to beat down the 'old' you in a heartbeat" smiling with a thumbs up, "Now, enough 'serious' talk" raising her index finger, furrowing her brows just a little, "Just pose and listen to Jason~"

"Oh! Mira~" The little exceed popped up, also wearing trunks and carrying a beach ball, "Can I join in too?"

Thinking for a moment, she turned to face the camera man, "How about it, Jason?" asking him, "Can't have 'Fairy Tail's Salamander' without his faithful friend, Happy" smiling.

"Hmm..." thinking for a moment, he held his hands up trying to frame it, "The Demon, Mirajane; The Salamander, Natsu Dragneel;... and between them... a flying blue cat..." pondering, he began to envision the three, seeing if he could turn it into a work of magic, "YES YES YES! I love it! Brilliant Idea!" stoked he gave them a thumbs up, readying his camera, "All right! Mira, you know the drill! Natsu gimme some beach fun! Happy, may I call you that personally? pop in between the two!" saying as he eagerly took pictures rapidly, "Loving it! Now! Gimme some 'summer romances', Happy, give me some atmosphere you flying angel~" taking even more pictures. It was strange how eager and excited he was, running all over taking shots from different angles, "Loving it~ Almost natural!"

It was a little bizarre there, trying to keep up with all the poses he had to give based on what the photographer wanted, though he couldn't say he found it a little 'relieving'. There was no doubt that it was boring and a little awkward, but to see a little about Mira's life of a model was just 'slightly' intriguing if he had to say so himself. For a while, she was depressing finding it pointless or hard going on jobs since she couldn't use most of her magic, and even though this was an 'odd' way of obtaining money being a model, it was at least something he felt she looked forward to, meaning that at some point he had to pay Mira back, if anything because she was a dear friend to him and for 'risking' her career like this for him was something he didn't think was worth the price to just be a personal trainer. That was probably why regardless of how much this annoyed him, he had to do his absolute best so that, if anything, Mira's career as a model wouldn't go down because he didn't do enough work or try hard enough.

"Annndd, that's a wrap!" he said, after taking the final shot with his camera, "Loving it, Mira you beautiful demon" flashing a smile and thumbs up, "I predict this'll be the 'best' issue we've had since your arrival!"

Smiling, blushing a little, "Oh you're too nice~" telling him, she simply dragged the Dragon Slayer into an embrace, "Thank any one, it should be my sweet little Salamander for agreeing to do the shoot with me~"

"I joined too, Mira!" Happy exclaimed, popping up from the ground, "Don't forget me~"

Petting the exceeds head she grinned a little more, "Of course Of course, you too, Happy."

"Lucky man, Salamander! Or Natsu? Which do you prefer?" eager, he approached and shook his hand a little energetically, "Either way, thank you both! As usual I'll mail you the first issue before we release to the public, Mira!" saying as he left, "We've already sent you the check too for your time, and uh... Natsu's since his participation was quite sudden!" waving as he hastily made his way off.

It was a little weird, having met that 'Jason' person up front, as he was usually busy with the papers and magazines to have come out of the way to do shoots out on the beach, but considering it was a 'special summer' issue, there was no choice but to drag the both of them here for it. Though as the two of them left, the Dragon Slayer couldn't necessarily say he was a bad person, well, to him at the least he couldn't be worse than Gray. The Ice Mage was at the bottom of the list next to the rust bucket, Gajeel, though personally he felt he got along better with the latter probably because he was a dragon slayer much like himself. Aside from that though, there were more pressing matters he needed to tend to.

"Well... I suppose we should get onto that promise I made with you" saying as she stretched out, feeling a little lazy from her modeling job, "I had a few-" noticing that he was averting his gaze with a light fluster on his face, a 'menacing' idea popped into her head, "What's wrong, Natsu~?"

Crossing his arms, he tried to look away, "Nothin'... so you were saying?" hoping she would just get back on topic.

" _It's so fun teasing him~_ " thinking to herself as she had several things planned out, " _Erza really is missing out for being so stubborn... then again it's not like he's sharp about it either_ " continuing her thoughts, "Well! Since most of them were planned for back home, how about we just do 'part' of it here?" suggesting to him, "It's such a nice day, and I'm sure you'd rather pass out on the ride back home right?" grinning.

The thought of being awake on the ride back home terrified him, feeling a sense of dread overwhelm him, "Y-Yeah... that sounds better" to be honest, anything sounded better than having to deal with his motion sickness, and well, since the other 'option' was Erza usually striking him hard enough to send him unconscious, neither sounded too pleasing at this point, "So what should I do?" asking her honestly.

"Hmmm..." thinking, she used her hand to block the sun from her eyes as she looked ahead from the distance, and while she herself weren't good at judging distances, she figured it had to be about several miles long from this end to the other, at least from what she could see, "You have two choices" telling him, "Run as fast as you can WITHOUT magic,...mind you, all the way from this end to the next, or...no, how about you just run all the way there and back?"

Turning to face the distance she had wanted him to go, he noticed that he necessarily could see the end. It had to be what... three...four miles maybe, or more? Either way it was probably a long way, and while there was no problem for him to do that, he didn't understand why she had just asked him to run, wondering what kind of training it would be, "Well... sure?" trying to confirm. He wasn't necessarily sure whether or not what she was doing, but he HAD asked her, and he wouldn't think she would be toying with him after he had come to her so seriously,... right? "A part of me thinks you're just messing with me..." knowing the silver haired demon had a tendency to do such in their younger days, "But if that's what you want... I guess I don't see anything wrong with that...I suppose" he wasn't completely convinced.

"Good boy~" tapping his head playfully, "Now get running!"

Saluting his 'coach' he took off, running at a steady pace since he didn't want to completely burn himself out from just the first trip while knowing she had wanted him to make another trip back. However, he began to quickly understand something first hand after just the first few moments of running. The sand made it entirely that much harder to run. Something about how the lack of a stable foothold made it that much harder for his legs and feet to even grasp and run, making him reel in from the annoyance already. Surely he had already done stuff on the beach, like it wasn't the first time being on the sand, but the Demon was having him running _miles_ straight. The exceed beside him was lucky because at the least he could _fly_ and avoid the annoying pain that he was feeling as he continued to push himself on the sandy shore, hoping to reach the demon's expectations.

-[x]-

 _ **~A Few days ago; At the Guild~**_

Everything had just settled with the parade being done, meaning that the dragon slayer could finally focus on finding Erza since he figured after that 'revelation' over who Mystogan really was undoubtedly shook her, even if he claimed he wasn't 'their' Jellal. Though, after the Parade was finished, he hadn't exactly found her, thinking she must have quickly made her discreet escape while every one was having the time of their lives at the festival. However, as for him, he was still reeling pain after his fight with the Lightning dragon slayer, and while he had help from the Iron dragon slayer, there was still the matter that Laxus was still, if anything, much more powerful than the two of them teaming up against him. If he hadn't slipped that once, and especially if Gajeel wasn't there, he wasn't necessarily sure if he could have come out winning liking with what against against _him_. Something about that had bothered him, realizing that after all that, he had only a slim chance of winning, and even then it was luck. It was luck, he felt, that Etherion didn't kill him and gave him the power to use Dragon Force, and especially luck that Erza's previous assault had crippled the azure-haired mage before he could attack, leaving him wide up. And it was no doubt the same going up against Laxus.

It was empty, more or less, not surprising considering everyone else was still in town, enjoying the rest of the festival until it came to pass. Aside from Cana who was at the bar already, probably just getting here as she probably wanted a quick fix before heading out and seeing what was there to offer since it was probably hard to get a drink here and there. And considering Mira wouldn't trust the card mage alone in the guild with all of their supplies of alcohol, she was there dishing it out, and upon having seen him make his way over, she cheerfully just waved over at him, wondering if he wanted help with his bandages, or get them off.

"Heya Natsu" calling out to him, she motioned him over to the bar, "You need some help with that?" asking as she tried to understand what he was mumbling through the bandages. "Hold on jusssstttt a bit, wait, on second thought, Cana?" turning to face the brunette, "Think you can help out poor Natsu over here with a bit of your magic?"

Dulling over at her, "Eh... sure" shrugging, she didn't see the harm in it. Getting up from her spot, she pulled out her deck of cards and drew three specific ones and concentrated for a bit, as three of them lit up red, white, green, and threw them at the dragon slayer, planting themselves onto an invisible wall around him in a triangular pattern. "I expect a favor from you later, Natsu" casually commenting as she made her way back to her spot.

"Sure" stretching out a little, relieved that he wasn't in pain anymore, "Huh... nice job Cana" smiling he simply flashed her a happy grin, "Might need to go to you whenever Erza punches my lights out."

Spitting some of her drink, "Don't use me like a safety net!" lightly scolding him, "'Cause then she'll be after **ME** " a little tired, "Ughh... I need another..." dreading that thought a little more.

"Hehe" giggling a little the barmaid handed the brunette another barrel of alcohol, "Here you go Cana~" kindly telling her, handling it to her, "How about you, Natsu? Anything I can get you?"

Having just remembered why he originally came here, his wounds just a little bonus, "Right! Back to why I came" telling up, looking at her seriously, "Mira, you're S-Class right? And you beat Freed using 'Satan Soul', right?" a little hasty in all of his questions.

"Y-Yeah..." a little surprised how much he was looking in to her, "Why?...You want to go on a job?" curiously asking, "I mean you're strong, Natsu, but... I don't think you're rea-"

Cutting her off, "I want you to train me!" honestly telling her, causing the brunette to spill her drink once more.

"God damn it Natsu... this is the second time..." coughing a little more from her drink.

Casually ignoring her, he turned to face the silver haired barmaid, "Before you decide, this isn't some prank or joke" he began to tell her. "It's just really...pissing me off..." he said, sitting back down into his seat, a little bothered with himself. "I always looked up to you, Laxus... Erza... Gildarts,... and Mystogan" little bitter with that last name. He had no ill towards his Guild mate, even he could tell that he wasn't the 'real' one, or rather, not the one that he was bitter against. While there was a 'similar' scent, it was different, and if anything, he could tell from his eyes that he wasn't the jerk that had hurt Erza. "And I always boast about... taking on Gildarts... but I couldn't even beat Laxus on my own... or that blueberry jerk... what if something else happens?" not wanting to have to see all that again, "I don't want to see Erza hurt again... don'-" seeing the look on Mira with a mischief, "...Uh... Mira? is everything okay?"

"You want to 'protect' Erza?" smiling a little mischief, it had dawned to him what he had said, "I thought you wanted to beat Erza and show her 'who's boss' remember?" playing back some of their childhood history. "Mr. I'm going to teach that Erza who she's messin' with" impersonating him just a little.

Flustered a little, "Wh-That was years ago!" a little worked up, "So... how about it..." calming back down. "I'll do anything!..." pressing his hands to the table, hoping she'd take him in.

It was a little surprising, seeing him like this as ever since she knew him as a kid he would just rush out and spout things like 'I'll be super strong just you watch, Mira!' and even directing most of that attitude towards Erza. Though, she could tell that something was bothering him a lot if he was desperate to a point that he would come to her for it. He was an arrogant mage, she knew him to always be full and confident himself, so seeing him like this made her feel that he must really want to be stronger, and not just spout out false words he couldn't back up. She had heard a little about 'blueberry' but not enough to know what had happened, and considering even Erza was a little upset about the whole matter when they came back that one day, she felt it must have been bad. Still, as she looked into those pitch dark eyes of his, she felt the unwavering resolve to see this through no matter what would happen. A part of her had wanted to turn him down, simply just because she was afraid a little how far he would go...

"Better do it, Mira" Cana casually said, "Who knows how long we'll get to have Natsu like this after all, though it may be the barrels finally starting to kick in" sighing just a bit, "Besides, this is too good to pass up" commenting with a light smirk, "Meaning I got the dirt on Natsu AND he owes me a favor..."

Groaning just a little, "Fine... what do you want, Cana?" darting his eyes to her, using his hand to prop himself up.

There was something about the mischief look in her eyes that he didn't like, probably because there was no telling what she was going to ask of him, considering what he had said aloud. While it was all primarily just for Mira, a part of him had actually forgotten she was around, and because of it had neglected her as he assumed she would just be off minding her own business drinking. Though, seeing as he got himself into this situation on his own, he didn't want anyone hearing, especially Erza, and definitely especially Gray, knowing that the Ice Mage would never let go of it. However, he felt for 'now' he was hoping the card mage would just forget it and go on with her own stuff, however, the possibility of that happened were often fairly low, and he could only hope that she would be 'lenient' on him.

-[x]-

 _ **~Present Day; Three Days Later, Erza Scarlet~**_

To say that she had been avoiding the Dragon slayer, even if it were subconsciously wouldn't be a complete lie, and if she were to state the real truth and intention, she herself wouldn't know how to pan it out. Fiddling around in her room, after accomplishing another job with Gray and Lucy, apparently hearing that Natsu and Happy were 'busy' with something, though not surprising neither of them pressed for any actual reason, she looked around and noticed the dragon plush that the pinkette had won at the fesitival. She had meant to bring it back to him, as after she punched his lights out, she felt a little guilty for doing so, but as she returned to the scene he had 'stumbled' off, leaving his prize behind. Not wanting it go to waste, and so she could 'properly' return it to him, she had taken it back to her place, though she had grown a little 'attached' to it, as it seemed like the perfect companion in bed to nestle against, that she neglected to take it with her. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind if she 'took' it a little longer, but it had a little bad effect on her, just looking at her made her wonder if she was being a little 'mean' to the dragon slayer. He was simple-minded, and perhaps pushed it aside and moved on with his life.

Sighing just a little, she got out of bed and requiped back into her standard Heart Kruez armor, and began to make her way back to the guild, thinking he was probably starting some trouble again. She could at least check up on him and see if he was doing better, after all, she had punched him pretty hard, and there was no harm in just checking up on him. Whatever it was he was up to also kind of intrigued her, as he was always eager to drag Lucy and the rest of them on a tough job, or starting fights with his fellow Guild mate. Maybe he had found a new tip on where Igneel could be. Remembering, he had always talked fondly about his dragon father when he was a kid, and if there was any clue he'd run off in a heartbeat, even if that made Master always angry about it.

" _...I have as much fun with as I had with Igneel..._ " remembering what he had said stopped her in her tracks as she made her way to the guild doors.

The way he smiled while saying like, grinning like a little kid who was always happy about something made her feel better that night for some reason. After all that had happened, he could still smile. Even after getting beaten around Laxus, after all that, or even being threatened by her, he still smiled at her like he always had. It was like nothing ever fazed him for long, and perhaps.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the guild doors, "Natsu! Get..." though as she looked around she had noticed that neither the dragon slayer nor the exceed were present, cutting her off from her thoughts. It was a little bothersome, she felt, realizing that he still wasn't back from what ever he was doing. "Has anyone seen Natsu?" getting a little irritated.

"Haven't seen 'im" Macao said, chatting with his friend, "Huh... well now that you mention it actually, I wondered why it's been so quiet, gahahah" laughing along with his friend.

Turning to face the Titania was Wakaba, "I think he's still a little afraid after decking the poo-" before he could finish, Erza and slammed her fist down on the table, putting a hole in it.

"Want to finish that sentence?" passing a light dark look over at the table. Even though it was entirely her fault, the fact he was bringing up wasn't particularly helping, "Natsu, where is he?" menacingly glaring at the rest.

A little terrified, the two of them shook their heads, not wanting to anger her any further, as it seemed like she was already in a bad mood and perhaps making it worse wasn't in their best interest. Sighing, she turned her face to notice that Mira wasn't working either, and that Cana was managing the bar, making it a little weird, slightly, but she knew of her side gig of working as a model for Sorcerer's Weekly, and seeing that she couldn't imagine Natsu would do something like _that_ , no matter how terrified he probably was, there was no point in finding a reason to start another fight with Mira. Sighing just a bit to herself, she dragged herself over to the foot of the bar and took a seat.

It ate at her a little, finding it a little weird that he hadn't been around too much lately, though perhaps her attitude wasn't even helping, she still didn't know why she punched him that night. Though maybe she should have been trying to work it a little better instead of having to worry about 'what meaning' it could have behind it. From what she remembered in her novels, 'accidental' kisses were always supposed to be 'romantic' and the start of a beautiful relationship between the two people involved. Even if he were just a friend, why would there have been a need for her to get all suddenly defensive about it?

"Hey Cana?" asking, "You haven't seen Natsu around have you?"

Startled just a little, she felt a little on pressure, "...'of course not" telling her, trying to put up a straight face. Normally it wasn't hard for the brunette to put up a front, but considering the situation, and what she had just done not too long ago, the card mage didn't want to get on Erza's bad side, "Too be honest I don't really remember... doesn't he just normally crash at Lucy's?"

"That was the first place I checked" contemplating, usually if 'no one' had seen Natsu there were still other signs he was around, "Though... it could be he's just on a job... but normally he drags us with him" trying to piece together the dragon slayer's behavior. No doubt that going on a job was a possibility, but for him, he was always just eager to get them to take on S-Class missions, or get someone to fight him, well if he weren't passed out at Lucy's. Though it had then dawned to her, "Wait! He's not in the backroom right?" remembering that's where he normally slept.

The brunette dulled at her a little, " _For someone who easily decked him for an accidental kiss, she sure knows a lot about him_ " containing her thoughts before answering, "I was actually just back there, but I haven't seen him" she told her, "C'mon, it can't be that bad, Erza" passing a smirk, "First few days without Natsu running around causing a ruckus is a rare treat" she mentioned, "Why not enjoy it to its fullest?"

"You're right" smiling a little gentle, "It is nice not having to deal with him picking fights or arguing with Lucy" replying, "Though to be honest it just feels a little 'strange' not having all of that" getting up, she stretched just a bit, "I'm gonna go into town, hopefully something there can take my mind off of it... thanks, Cana" waving her friend off before the Scarlet Knight made her way out the guild doors.

It was a sunny day, and perhaps while she was out she can get some other stuff she been meaning to get to, such as refining her skills or checking out to see if any new rare armor or weapon made their way to the shop. With how calm things were, she had decided to take the brunette's advice and try to make the 'best' of it since it was a little relieving that she didn't have to deal with Natsu causing some sort of trouble for the Team or the Guild, but while it had bothered her of the 'actions' he would do, she couldn't deny she enjoyed the eager and energetic personality of the pinkette. Maybe that was why it felt a little empty around lately, since of the four, Lucy was always wanting to take the 'easy' jobs that she could get enough money for rent, and Gray was always just casual about things, and not necessarily making a fuss. She normally kept to herself, reading her novels. All in all, it was just an odd, quiet,... I suppose 'casual' day for a team like them.

-[x]-

 _ **~Natsu Dragneel; South Gate Park~**_

Huffing, it had been a while since he and Mira returned from the beach, and while he was glad he passed out on the train ride back, considering he had ran that long terrible run across the sandy beach, his training with the Demon was far from over. For some reason she had dragged him back there the last few days and made him repeat it, seeing as she felt it was 'good' for him to ease into her work out program. And it was only the fourth day. Since they had gotten back, she went ahead and brought her younger brother, Elfman, over to help encourage the dragon slayer, and seeing that she was already training someone, might as well rope her sibling in it as well. And as they started, the eldest Take Over made had attached light weights to the both of them, wanting the both of them to 'start' at the same pace regardless of who had it easier than the other. They weren't heavy, having them drag 45 lbs straight from the get go, but while the two of them were strong in their own right, she knew neither of them had tried using them to 'run' with, knowing the concept is fairly different from what they were used to. Seeing how he performed at the beach, it gave her a bit more of an idea how to work out his training, and make sure that he could be making more progress.

At first, he couldn't tell why or see the point behind it, but as he didn't want to argue or complain with his 'instructor', he went along it with, and to be hoenst, he was already regretting it. Somehow the two of them, he and Elfman turned it into a competition to see who could complete the laps around the park the 'fastest' and neither of them had it turned out too well. From the beginning onward, he was already fatigue from the work out she had him do earlier on just after their shoot, and then he had gotten himself into a competition with one of the Guild's more 'easily' provoked member, well, aside from himself. And now, he felt like he was already at deaths door.

Breathing a little hard, flat against the ground he tried to catch his breath, "I totally beat you... Elfman" feeling bits of his body already in pain, wiped out from the run, "Though... I felt like this was horrible..."

"Hah... you wish, Natsu..." just as worn out, collapsed next to the dragon slayer was a large build man, worn out on the ground, "A real man doesn't complain about training...!" telling his fellow guild mate, "Especially since you made Mira do it..."

Smiling down, giving off a slightly 'menacing' aura, "What was that, Elfman?" shadowing over them with the Exceed floating above next to her, her hands held behind her.

"N-Nothing..." a little terrified, it had been a while since he saw his sister return to her 'Demon' origins.

Beside him, the dragon slayer could only laugh, "Hah..a... scared... of your own sister..." chuckling at the misfortune of the younger Strauss sibling.

"Did you say something, Natsu~" changing her target to the worn out dragon slayer, "I could've sworn you decided to reply to him~"

Feeling a bit of terror envelop him, "N-No..." feeling the aura of dread, "Just.. uh... you know... checking out how my training buddy is..." smiling what he could, feeling a little nervous.

"Come on you two... back up" she said, kneeling down she handed both of them some water bottles, to which the two of them happily took, "We're gonna go to the East Forest now for Part 2" she began to tell them, "So be up an ready, especially you, Natsu" smiling at him, "You know of course how important 'lighting' can be~"

Choking a little on his water, he got an angry sort of look from Elfman who was eyeing him a little suspiciously, making the dragon slayer begin to question whether or not the silver-haired barmaid had mention the 'shoot' with her he had to do just to 'convince' her to train him. She wasn't kidding when she said she was going to work him into so much shape he could easily squash his old self. Though, that didn't matter too much in the least, considering that he was just doing this so he didn't have to see that face cry again. What ever will come his way, there was no doubt he was going to be ready this time to fight on who ever may come his way. And if he had to go through the Demon's training to get at that point, then he would do it. The pain that was radiating throughout his body was nothing at this point, he just needed to remember why he was doing this in the first place. Breathing a little rough, he pushed himself up from the ground, meeting the 'look' the Demon of Fairy Tail, as if she knew he wasn't going to be down for the count.

-[x]-

 _ **~East Forest~**_

Much like the first part of the training, Mirajane had both her brother and the dragon slayer rush all the way over to the East Forest with the weights still attached, luckily that was just the 'first step' of the second part of the training. As they made their way deeper into the forest, they were allowed to 'detach' the weights from their bodies and feel a little more relieved not having to lug anything else around. Though, that made him wonder what else she had in store for the two. He had recognized the place as this was normally where he retreated to whenever he was young and he got into fight with Gray, Erza, or both of them for some odd reason. This was also the place where he and Lisanna found Happy's egg back when they were as young. Meaning it was just a little strange being back here all of a sudden. Well, also considering this was also where he and Erza went on that job when they made their way back from Akane Resort. Whether she knew this or not didn't matter, he just needed to try and 'be patient' about what he was going to be told to do next.

Sighing just a little bit, it did feel a little nice about being around this kind of environment, it would make it easier he felt if they were going to do anything 'explosive' and not need to worry about attracting any unwanted attention. Looking around, it was nice and calm, feeling a little more relaxed since it wasn't bogged down by any unnecessary noises or crowds. Though, it was a little strange, as he watched and Mira was just looking around, as if she was looking for something. Elfman seemed to have gotten an idea of what she was aiming for and didn't question, but as for him, he was a little curious if anything what she was up to.

"Uh... Mira?" calling out to her, "What're we doing next?" asking, honestly he was just curious if anything.

Realizing he probably wasn't sure, "Ah... sorry" smiling a little nervously, "I'm looking for the perfect stage for the second part of your training" she began to tell him, "Tell me, Natsu, what is the **most** important thing about a mage?" asking him, awaiting for what he was going to say.

"Strength!" instantly just shouting out, "Being strong enough to crush anything before you?" asking if it were the right answer.

Pondering over his answer, "Well... you're not entirely wrong... strength **is** important when it comes to a mage" telling him, "But as you said, I'm an S-Class mage, right?" reminding him, "And Elfman over there is 'far' stronger looking than I am, but I can easily crush him with Satan Soul" smiling, sending shivers down the large man's spine, "However, remember that strength pertains to both physical **and** mental" raising a finger, "Now... it's important to work on the 'mental' aspect of your strength."

"But I'm a dragon slayer!" telling her outright, "I need to be _physically_ stronger as well" telling her, "I mean raising my magic is going to help,... but don't I need to physically stronger as well?"

Sighing, she slumped her shoulders just a little, "I was afraid you were going to say that" holding her face in her hands. It was then something bizarre happened as the air around her began to change ever slightly, until it felt like she was a 'completely' different person. "Fine, let's put that to the test" she told him with a lightly dark look on her face.

Suddenly the around around her grew dark and violent as vicious winds lashed out around her, though, she looked a little unaffected by it as she simply darkened her look at him. Her body began to glow lavender as shapes began to take form, revealing a the silver-haired eldest sibling in a more 'demonic' look. Her long silver hair was flared up in a violent manner, accompanied by sharp pointy ears, and her clothes were replaced by a fairly revealing purple attire that left very little to the imagine as it clung, covering her chest and lower half. Large purple gauntlets were fixed around her as it held her yellow demonic claws that dragged from her forearm up. A large reptilian tail formed behind, alongside a pair of large monstrous leather bat wings flung its way out.

The power she gave off reminded him why they called her 'The Demon', and while she had used it against Freed not too long ago, this was the first time in two years he had seen it. He could feel the monstrous power waving off from her, and all she was doing was standing there. "Come on then, Natsu" beckoning him with a maddening smile, "You may be a dragon slayer, but your magic cannot kill a demon."

"..." he felt a sweat drip from his forehead as he came face to face with 'The Demon' Mirajane for the first time in a long while. Gritting his teeth, he summoned all his flames to engulf his fists, burning it hotter. " _...But this wasn't enough either to stop Laxus or the blueberry jerk..._ " thinking to himsef. Both times he had assistance in some form or way. Etherion for Jellal,... and Gajeel for the lightning dragon slayer. It killed him just thinking that.

She could see the hesitation burrowing after coming face to face with it, knowing that there was no one here to help him against her, or anything available to consume and give him the boost that he needed just in case. Though, even if she had seen that in his eyes, she wanted to make sure that he understood just a little the importance behind what she was trying to teach him. Gathering just a mass of darkness in one hand, she concentrated onto it before holding out towards him, and unleashing a controlled blast of darkness, a tweaked variant of her 'Soul Extinction', crippling just a large portion of the area, while also severely injuring the Dragon slayer. She hadn't put enough power in it to put him in the hospital, but from that one blast, she was able to etch into him the 'importance' of what she was trying to teach him. Luckily for him being a dragon slayer as well, his body wouldn't be in that state for too long.

"Well... Natsu DID provoke her..." Happy commented as he looked towards Elfman.

Crossing his arms, he could only nod, "Agreed... It wasn't a very manly thing to do, Natsu" telling the battered pinkette.

"Shut up..." narrowing his gaze at the two, the dragon slayer wanted to punch them for saying that.

Reverting back to normal, she made her way over to him, lowering her self down to his level, "Natsu?" calling out to him, wondering if he was 'still there', "Do you understand now what I mean?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't have to do that again.

"...Yeah" a little bitter about it, he simply lied there, "Mental and Physical..." repeating what he had told her. Sighing, lying there, covered in pain and battered, he stared up to the sky"

Smiling, she helped him up with what little as she could, "Good!" cheerily saying with a large smile, "Well... I'll be sure to put a lot of 'physical' exercises no worries, but for now, it is important to develop mental strength as well" telling him, "Now... Elfman" turning to face her younger brother, "Go fetch Cana~" telling him.

"C-Cana?!" replying in shock, "Who'll man the bar then?"

Shrugging, she just looked at him, "Good point... we may need another fall in just in case" thinking, "Well for now then we'll just rest for a bit until Natsu here gets better" she began to say, "After that I want you two to do one hundred push ups, spar, and we'll finish up with mental training~" saying as if it were that easy, "Or well... mental training first... I'll see how I feel by then" smiling.

Somehow, just seeing that smile on her face didn't assure him at all after what had happened not too long ago. Though, what he did know now was that there was a longer path he was going to have to take than what he had immediately thought of it to be. Thinking back, he probably remembered Igneel had told him something of the sort when he was younger, but to be honest he also remembered he was more excited to just run off all over and break things whenever he could get the chance or to test out what spells his dragon father had taught him. Some part of that though was writing... something he didn't really get, so, there was a chance that at some point it had slipped his mind. Sighing, just lying there on the ground, feeling the power that was bluntly blasted towards him to show him a 'difference'. It was then he realized that as early as he had started during the day, that the 'real' training had only now started.

-[x]-

 _ **~A Few hours later; Erza Scarlet~**_

It had been an odd sort of day for the Scarlet Knight, having spent most of it trying to find something to do to keep her mind off of the things that were bothering her. There wasn't much, just the issue with the suddenly 'absent' dragon slayer and exceed, and while she didn't think much of it, she was hoping at the least he was 'okay'; usually Natsu running off on his own was never good. Such instance was back when Lisanna had passed, and she found him being reckless far beyond his own limit, and another, she probably had to admit was back at the Tower. Reasons like that, especially from Akane Resort, was the reason she had to keep track of him, knowing that he was going to run off and be stupid, getting himself hurt, and while she would like to have faith in him that it was just a job, there still wasn't a clear telling for her that she knew it was all going to be okay, and unfortunately, she was going to have to just sit back and wait just to hear what kind of 'excuse' he could come up with.

Though, as she made her way back to Fairy Hills, following the path from where she was last, she came across an unbelievable sight, and by that, she meant she ran into the person she had been 'sort of' wanting to see. Dozing off a little, wobbling around was the dragon slayer that looked he was beaten near half to death. While it was far away, there was no other person she could tell, if by just looking at the color his hair, and the scaled scarf around his neck. There was a chance, he couldn't catch her scent, presumably from the fact of the state he was just in already; a chance that it was throwing his senses off a little more convenient for her. Making her way over to him, she hadn't said a peep, probably so that she could use this to get the drop on him so that she could interrogate him.

"So, look who shows up" sighing, she easily pulled him back by his scarf, causing him to choke a little and falling back onto the ground, "Gone for a few days... then I find you beaten half to death...again" holding her face in her palm, wondering why this had to be a reoccurring thing for him. "So... any excuses?" looking down on him, her arms crossed.

Though, he was a little dazed and beaten sort of to actually be a little 'aware' of what was going on, "Ehh... Just a little running here and there... like you wanted me too" saying a little worn out, "What's up... uh... besides you?" trying to pass off a smile.

"Come on..." a little worn, he must be really out of it he was mistaking her for someone else, "Let's get you back to the guild... Mira'll be there to help you get fixed up and whatnot". With a smile, she lifted him up from the ground and threw his arm up and over her shoulder so that she could help walk him back. He was tired, beaten all over, which probably nulled his sense of smell probably for the most part, wondering what he had gone through for the past few days.

A little groggy, he felt himself move all over, prompting him to resist a little, though with pain radiating all through out his body. "Don't wanna..." complaining to her, yawning a little, "Just need a little sleep..." moving a little out of control, he shoved her aside somehow and just met face front with the hard ground. "Gah!" reeling in even more pain.

"...Did you hit your head even more?" a little peeved at how dumb he was, "Come on... the longer you wait, the longer..." seeing him pass out, snoozing in the ground she sighed a little before sitting down next to him, "Idiot. I always find you like this..." pulling him over on her lap, she looked down on him and began to brush the hair out of his face. Wondering what could have led him to be in this state, "Avoiding going home... avoiding going to the Guild..."

Stirring a little from her touch, she just watched him mumble, "Erza's still mad at me..." aimlessly saying in his sleep.

"..." feeling a little stung by what he said, "She's not mad at you" telling him, even though he probably wasn't listening, "She doesn't know why, but she isn't mad at you."

Yawning just a little more, he fell into a deeper sleep, likely not hearing what she was saying. She couldn't imagine what kind of situation he was in, but from what she knew, it had something to do with what ever state he got himself into. Was he upset like when Lisanna passed and went on a rampage? No. It couldn't be. She knew him enough he wouldn't want to piss her off like that time, knowing that when she was 'that' angry, there was no worry that he was just going to casually ignore her regardless of what he was in.

"When you wake up... let's go on a job" telling him with a light smile, "You can pick, and I'll drag the others, all right?" asking the dragon slayer in a deep sleep.

Considering that he thought she was 'Mira', assuming, as the two had always been a little too close lately, from what she had seen about her knowing more about his troubles and the fact she was taking pictures for him. It began to burn her a bit, thinking that, wondering if her 'rival' from her childhood days was etching her ways to corrupt him. For some reason, she felt like she made a grievous error in allowing her confusion to let the dragon slayer fall into what she felt was the 'clutches' of the cruel Demon, Mirajane. Though, for now, she would need to just sit here, making sure that he would be all right, meaning that she wouldn't mind if she had to sit here all day, long as she could assure that one bit. Sitting there, she looked down at him, and wondered if he would act the same once he woke up. Sure, she could just as easily 'punish' him straight forward, but perhaps she needed to find another way to get to him, well, at least to make sure that she wasn't 'mad' at him, or give him the impression she was.

-[x]-

 _ **~A Week Later~**_

Unfortunately, much against her wishes, she hadn't gotten the 'plan' she had wanted and set for herself after what she declared for on that day. Mainly, some time during her 'watching over' of him, she must have fallen asleep as well, and when she awoke, she was in her room, tucked in her bed, coming to the conclusion that he must have freaked out waking up, and not wanting to just 'leave' her out on the open, carried her back. Well, the last part was definite as that's what the owner of Fairy Hills had told her, recalling that the dragon slayer was in a light panic for having to 'break' into the Girl Dormitory just to put her in her own room. From what she had gathered too, it hadn't been long after she woke, given the impression she must have nodded off earlier than she had thought. However, it was because of this that, once again, both the dragon slayer and the exceed were 'absent', as was the evil, and malicio-. Her fellow Guild Mate. Though, it had bothered her a little that whenever she confronted her about it, she would just 'smile' and ignore her completely. Adding to her frustration.

Though, as she popped in the guild today, she had noticed something rather 'surprising'. That was, Natsu and happy were sitting back at the 'usual' place wearing a different outfit than she last remembered. She didn't know what had occurred, but because of it, she was a little more eager than she normally felt seeing his cheery expression once more. Perhaps now she could be up front, but thinking, there was probably a 'better' way upon going about it.

"Natsu!" calling out to him in her usual tone, "Looks like you picked out new clothes" commenting on the attire. It wasn't really any different from the usual thing that he wore, the only 'real' piece changing being that aside from the black vest he normally wore, it was a crimson long-sleeved piece, buttoned all the way up with a raised collar. There was a 'light' drap from the shirt that split in the middle, going nicely as normally he had worn two different pieces for this, and now all he needed was the shirt.

Groaning just a little, he stretched out before falling limp on the table, "Yeah... I got scolded being told 'I'm too old' to be running around in a vest that doesn't close up, dreading over that 'memory'.

"Natsu isn't complaining though~" The exceed sitting beside him snickered a little, "He says the color makes him feel like he can burn 20x hotter~"

Smiling, "Definitely!" giving him a thumbs up. Remembering what had happened, he turned to face her, almost like he hadn't said anything to her that day, or heard what she told him, "Besides, whatchu up to?" asking, a little curious.

"Nothing" taking a seat, "Well... usual stuff... Gray is missing his clothes... Lucy is complaining about it..." chuckling a little to herself, "They should be getting around here soon...and..." saying, she pulled out a form, "We're going to go on a 'special' quest" smiling at him.

Passing it over to him, it was an A-Class Job, detailing the need to eliminate monstrous threats, with a reward of 500,000 jewels. "Woah!" his eyes lit up, "Really? Man... Lucy's gonna be pissed when she hears about this..." laughing a little.

She enjoyed hearing him talk about about, realizing she had missed the little mischievous laughter he gave up whenever something most of them considered 'fun' and knowing the celestial mage wasn't in the least going to enjoy whatever it was.

"Oh... flame brain's still alive" hearing the comment, he narrowed his gaze over at the Ice Mage who strolled in, "Where ya been? Clothes shopping?" commenting.

Narrowing his gaze, "Shut it snow flake" glaring a little.

"O...kay... jeez... it was just a joke" it was strange, seeing that glare actually sent 'shivers' for a moment, even for an Ice Mage, "Where'd you get that look? Did Erza give you 'glaring' lessons while you were gone?" taking a seat.

This time it was Erza that passed the glare, "Gray... do you have something to say to me?" piercing her gaze into the already worn out ice mage.

"Come on... I literally just got here..." worn out, taking the form, "Huh... a Job huh? Seems pretty good, though, all we gotta do now is wait for Lucy" commenting a little.

Sitting there, she had felt a little 'like the old times' when the four of them would get together for jobs. Heck, right now it felt a lot like when they were both younger. Before Lucy came to Fairy Tail, before Lisanna passed. It was just them, Erza, Natsu, and Gray. And all the time the two of them would fight another, and same as before, she would have to stop them before finding herself in another quarrel with Mirajane.

"Natsu!" calling out, breaking her concentration was the silver-haired Strauss sister, "I'm off today" telling him, "Meaning I can work the two of you harder now" smiling a little, waving over to him.

Hearing that, she watched the pinkette's expression die a little, "All right" stretching a little, "Sorry Erza" straightening his hand out and holding it up to his chin, "I'll catch up with you guys later!" smiling, he made his way off with the Take Over demon, just as Lucy made her way back in.

"That... was weird... I just saw Natsu and Happy making their way off with Mira" commenting, saying as she faced the rest, "...Ah! THATS RIGHT!" remembering something, "YOU GUYS HAVE TO SEE THIS!" pulling out of her bag was the 'latest' from Sorcerer's Weekly.

While it had taken a while for everything to process, they suddenly had the idea of what she was talking about. On the cover issue of this weeks 'Sorcerers Weekly' was a picture of Mirajane, Natsu, and Happy, posing on the cover. Grabbing it from the celestial mage's hands, the Scarlet Knight trembled a little watching and letting the image burn into her mind. She was shaking, slowly, but it was beginning to pick up a little more the more her brain tried to process what was on the cover. Surely, she could understood Mira because she worked partly as a model, but dragging Natsu on board? Recalling, it was also then when Natsu 'glared' at Gray, making it seem also like...

"Hello... earth to Erza..." Gray tried to call her back to earth, "Job... big money... Lucy's re-"

Before he could finish, she crushed the magazine within her grasp and struck the ice mage, in the wave of her continuing anger, with enough force to send him crashing against the wall of the guild. Something was twitching, provoking her as if this was Mira's way of 'taunting' her like they used to when they were younger, and seeing that she had regained her Satan Soul during the battle of the Thunder Palace, she seemed a little more 'eager' to continue their rivalry where they last left off. She couldn't begin to understand why dragging the dragon slayer into it, and why she was so angry about this in the first place. Natsu was her friend. Her fellow Guild and Team Mate. Was she mad because the silver haired bar maid was 'corrupting' her friend by making him do all of these things? Something about this didn't sit right with her, and it was likely she was the reasoning behind why Natsu had been absent for a while and beaten up up at that time when she found him. Either way, she was going to get to the bottom of this, and when she does, she was going to get back 'her' dragon slayer.

Stopping for a moment...

... _Her_ Dragon Slayer?

* * *

 **A/N: WELL. Here you go! Chapter 6! :D Now as per I said before, I will be only updating maybe twice a week, but I'm aiming for at least once a week. School is popping on by, and I surely am fairly depressed about that. But yeah. I might focus updating 'Crimson Dragon' a couple chapters, if anything because I'm very excited to write what's about to come on in the story. But more about that there.**  
 **But yeah! Wow! What a chapter! :D This is probably by far the longest I've written for this series, but there was a lot I needed to set up for the future of this story and Crimson Dragon (More have been said then) And before anyone worries. NO. I'm not making a whole "Oh Erza has to win Natsu from Mira" through stupid means. It's just a little thing a friend and I came up with, and actually he (YAXON) thought it would be funny just poking at Erza's jealously. I dunno, I (we) always figured Erza to be a closet-jealous person? Maybe just liek the fact she doesn't know consciously how she feels but maybe subconsciously? But yeah I wanted to change the scheme a little, getting things set. And then well, Oracion Seis... I'll get to that soon maybe. I also have plans for that... But yeah I hope you really liked this. It's a 'bonus' sort of chapter... I won't be holding off Boiling Water, but I reeaaalllllyyy wanna work on the other a couple...mainly 'cause it'll stave off my depression.  
Anywho! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lemme know what you think in a review :heart: if you have any questions and you wanna just seriously ask me to assure you I can take PMs~ But really, it's not gonna be 'that' kind of love story. (Pssstttt... Attack them! AHAHAHAHAHAHA) please don't ;w;  
Also! I'm also sorry about 'Crimson Dragon'. I really wanted it to just be 'Erza x Natsu x Edo Erza', but since that story has NO EFFECT (in terms of 'pairings') on this (Even though it's an || Alternate Route - Post Edolas || ) I thought it would be fun ._., I really wanted to have mult. girls and mix it with adventure and action. (Darky felt a little guilty for spoiling you folks with several one v one stories and then goes out to make Crimson Dragon) yeah ;w; that :sobs uncontrollably: But yeah. I hope regardless you'll like the twisted Alt. Route of this story  
This one will remain pure NatZa (:  
**


	7. Distance

**Chapter 7: Distance**

* * *

 **~At the Guild || Erza Scarlet~**

She had been on a sort of 'quest' as of late, and by 'quest' it was her determination to burn every copy of that week's Sorcerer's Weekly so that nothing remained of it in existence. The first copy that she had destroyed was the first one that Lucy had, and while she felt bad for her friend about damaging her possession, she hoped that she wouldn't mind too much considering how much of an 'abomination' it was. Though, if she had to be honest, she didn't know why either why she had done what she did, and why she made it her goal to rid Fiore of all copies possible. Even if it was just confined within Magnolia, that was probably enough for her, but for now it was part of her unknowing desire to see it come to fruition. All she knew was that for some odd reason, she was just furious seeing it. Was it because it was Mira and Natsu on the cover? If so, she didn't understand why that began to bother her. What she did know, was that for a while, since that night, he had been absent frequently. He had, of course, made it a point to come back every now and then, whenever Lucy was in dire need for rent, as usual, but for the most part, he hadn't shown up. When she'd find him, she would find him tired and worn, battered and exhausted, to a point that she didn't understand what was going on. Everything had began to drastically change since 'that night', and she didn't like it.

Luckily enough, with her plan set into motion, the Titania had made her way over now to 'consult' the person in question. It wasn't the Dragon Slayer, but who she considered to be the 'mastermind' behind all of this. Mirajane Strauss. While it was a little bothersome to have to try and find her, she knew there were at least moments where she could find her, and that was in the Guild. Though, it was easier said than done. Considering she had taken all of her free time to be 'off somewhere', the only moment she could have was during her working shift, and luckily, both of the people she had wanted to see were right in the same place where she had wanted them. Mira was up sitting and tending to the Bar, as well has handling everything with orders and what not, and sitting up at there on one of the stools, was Natsu Dragneel.

Making her way over, the entire Guild, had made it a point to take note of her 'dangerous aura' that was viciously leaking out of her, "Mira!" calling out to her, lightly 'stomping' her way over. "What is the meaning of this?!" Though, despite saying she was going to 'destroy' all the copies of that week's issue, she had at least kept one safe so she could use as an interrogation device.

"Oh~ Do you like it?" smiling a little innocent, she was the only one who didn't care about it. The Dragon Slayer on the otherhand, was terrified, because his premonition was coming to fruition. Doing the shot would cause Erza to be _even angrier_ , if that was even possible, "We had such a great time that day~ Didn't we, Natsu?" turning to face him, he was headfirst against the table, mumbling as if he was saying his final prayers.

Slamming her fist on the table, possibly putting a dent in it, "Don't weasel out of it, Mira!" raising her tone, "What sort of witchery did you use to blackmail him into it?!"

"Haa..." sighing just a little, she looked at the poor state of the table, "You realize we're going to have to replace the entire thing now right?" mulling over how damaged the table already was. "If you really wanted to ask, you could have said it without wrecking the Guild stuff..."

Feeling a vein begin to thrive and pop, "You're not answering the question..." dropping her gaze over at her 'friend', she had wanted to know, and she knew that was she was purposely avoiding her, "...Can you at least answer then why Natsu almost always looks like someone beats him to near death on what seems like a daily basis...?" finding her patience running thin.

"You've certainly a lot of questions lately~" smiling at her innocently, "Surely Natsu can answer some of them, right?" turning, she tried to face the Pinkette in all honesty. Though, the way he looked after was a little 'less alive', something she knew of.

He could feel the Knight's gaze starting to lightly pierce their way into his skull, "...I'm fine" commenting. There was no doubt that he could say the 'full intent' of all that has happened, but there was a good reason he hadn't done so. Breathing a little, he merely chose to just rest on the table, headfirst. He felt a little chaotic inside, wondering how or when it he felt he could tell her.

"Natsu!" calling out to him, a bit stern, "What exactly have you an Mira been up to...?" asking him directly.

Popping up, "Super secret~" the Exceed had said, "Natsu sa-"

"Happy!" cutting her off, a little terrified, the Dragon Slayer was having a hard enough time as it was. "It's nothin', Erza" smiling a little nervously, fearing for his life. "Mira just asks for a few favors... here and there..."

Narrowing her gaze, she crossed her arms, "You've been gone for nearly over a month... appearing only when it matters about Lucy's rent... and then you're gone again for another unknown set of time..."

"Really... I haven't..." smiling a little, putting up a front. "You see... Happy... and I..."

Though, her expression began to stiffen, just as she was about to get angry thinking 'what kind of stupid excuse' he was going to make again. It was then she began to remember everything that had happened. He was afraid of her, because he was upset that she was likely still mad at him for what happened on 'that' night. Was that why he was so hesitant to be around her? Or even tell her? She did hit him pretty hard. From what she heard around the Guild, it was harder than she normally does when she's 'teaching him a lesson'. It was bothering her. Assuming that he thought it was 'safer' to be around Mira than her, or he realized it was 'easier' to be around someone who doesn't necessarily beat him for things. Shaking a little, a lot of emotions were rushing through her, a lot of them she knew, and a lot she didn't think she would feel again.

"N-Natsu!" breaking her concentration, was the brunette, Cana, who seemed a little more than eager to 'get away' from this all, "I'm going on a job... and I need some _literal_ fire power... can you help with that?"

A little eager, he was desperate to, by any means, get out of this situation. "S-Sure!... Let's go Happy!" calling out to his flying friend. Rushing right past her, she wasn't sure what to say. Was he that eager to get away from her, to avoid answering anything?

"..." she wanted to stop him right there, at that moment. Reach out and grab him by the collar and demand that he answer. "..."

He hadn't bat an eye to her, and continued to make his way past, walking alongside the Card Mage as they made their way out of the Guild. His heads tucked behind his head, was her friend who kept silent about a matter. Solemn a little, she was getting angrier. Mad at him, mad at herself, mad at everything that had happened. But she tightened her fist, clenching it shut and tight so that she could force down those emotions from peaking. Nothing had changed. She was still the sa-

"Erza..." snapping her from her darkened thoughts, he had called her out. Turning slowly, she faced and looked at the crimson tunic's back, seeing him stand with his hands held behind his head, standing a loof. "I... can't tell you why I've been gone" telling her. "At least... not yet..." turning around, he had faced her, with a warm childish smile, the one that she had been wanting to see. " _Just wait and see, Erza... I'm gonna show you just how strong I can be..._ " thinking to himself.

It was like staring at the sun. The more she looked, the more it would burn its image into her, and as he walked away, that 'smile' stayed with her. Peeking through the darkness of her worries, it was assuring. Smiling a little soft to herself, a little bit of warmth erased the chilling cold that was creeping towards her.

"Ahhh~ I'm so jealous" mulling aloud, the Silver haired barmaid slumped over the table.

Turning to face her, the Scarlet Knight wasn't entire sure what she had meant, "What do you mean?" asking, wondering what was on her mind. "Because Natsu isn't gonna be spending time with his captor?"

"I didn't-" though when she thought about it, perhaps there was no real difference in between ideals, "Well, something like that~" smiling a little innocent.

She could tell something was on the Demon's mind, the way she slumped and pondered, giving that mischievous smile of hers. From all her years, nothing ever was good about the smile from the Eldest Strauss sibling, simply because there was no understanding what she was implying. A smile of hers could mean she has genuinely happy, other times, it could be a misleading symbol for a darker purpose. Either way, it seemed to have been a little more of the latter as of late, feeling that the battle with Freed had 'revived' the old rivalry they had between the two.

"Say, Erza~" taking the opportunity, there was no telling what the next words were going to be. "What do you think of Natsu?~" asking, using her elbows to prop her up the table, her hands rested under her chin.

A little baffled, she looked at her a little confused, "What do you mean?" pondering the intent, "I think he's been awfully irritating right now... keeping a secret from me" crossing her arms, "Even if he told me that,... it's frustrating he won't tell me."

"Ah?~ And why's that?" cheerily smiling even more, "Why do you care so much what Natsu does in his free time~" poking at her friend. Of course **she** could see it clear as day on the Titania's face. Hell, she could see it clearly on Natsu's face. Though the fact that the two of them were 'this' dense about it intrigued her endlessly as she enjoyed wondering more about the thoughts of her fellow Guildmate.

This kind of struck one of her nerves, "Why do I ca-" a little off how her friend could say something like that, "Of course I need to know!" telling her, "I'm his friend, and more importantly his Teammate!" reminding her, "You can't necessarily have 'Team Natsu' around if the person's whose NAME is in it, isn't around!" a little lost on how the barmaid could miss out on something obvious like that.

"So~ You're just his 'friend' then" grinning more, enjoying toying with the Knight and her own denseness, and or stubbornness, "And only his 'teammate'~" further adding to her arsenal.

The vein that was about to pop on her head had returned with a vengeance as she tried to deal with the 'crafty' and 'misleading' Mirajane. "I don't know what you're trying to imply, Mira" telling her with a dropped narrowed gaze, "But Natsu and I are nothing more than good friends" telling her, "If you ask him, he'll tell you the same thing. **Nothing** is going on other than that."

"Oh~?" then something terrifying began to manifest. Raising a simple printed out snapshot, "This picture tells me otherwise~" saying with a smirk.

It was a picture of the night of the Fantasia Parade, more specifically, when Juvia was on a possibly drunken rampage and had smacked Natsu into Erza, forcing the two to kiss. Just exposure to the picture had sent her into a flustered mess, reminding her of how it all started. However, it had also made her very angry as well. Twitching just a little, a whole surge of emotions were reborn as she tried to figure out what to do with what emotion. She had remembered something about Mira selling pictures to Natsu, leading her to believe that she was blackmailing him to some degree. Though, the biggest thing, was that she needed to get the picture away from her _as fast as she could_. Perhaps if she could swipe this picture away and destroy it, Natsu would be free from Mira's clutches and he could return back to where he rightfully belonged. With her-. Er. Their team.

Pausing for a moment, she waited just a little longer before attempting to swipe for it, only for the barmaid to skillfully retract it and raise it above her head, "Ah ah ahh~" shaking her finger in a mocking manner, "I can't let you have this~ You might go ahead and burn it like you did all the hard-work Jason did for his issue."

"Why do you even HAVE that sort of thing!?" furiously asking her, "Is this why Natsu is 'bent' around your finger?" now any ludicrous decision was a possible one, "Because you're taunting him about it and me punching him?"

Curious, she looked at her a little blank, "No... they're two separate things" casually ignoring the fact she said something about the Pinkette being bent around her finger, "Natsu means _nothing_ more than a friend, right?" asking, "So there shouldn't be any harm in me having this~"

"..." frustrated, she knew if she played any longer, she'd walk straight into the devious mischievous hands of Mirajane, "Fine, keep it...!" a little frustrated, "I'm going to go cool off somewhere..." saying as she walked off.

Though, she was only greeted by a light 'mocking' of her friend, "Have a lovely time~" waving her off with a happy look on her face.

She was flustered but she wasn't sure what she felt. Her heart was beating fast, and her cheeks were flushed and warm. It was all an accident that night, neither of them had planned or wanted any of it. Plus, she never figured Natsu would have felt anything from it, honestly, she wasn't necessarily sure if he was capable of feeling 'love'. Though, she hadn't meant it in a malicious way, just like her, the Dragon Slayer had suffered a horrible heart break when Lisanna had passed, and because of it he was probably hesitant about 'experiencing' it again. However, as she stopped in her tracks to wonder, he wasn't like her at all. Even when Lisanna had passed, carrying that feeling of 'loss', he had returned to being his happy self once more, even if everyone had refused to mention even a thought of her, he was able to move on. As for her, she had locked away herself behind the suit of armor, never allowing anyone near her, and repressing any sense of the meaning of 'love'. Then, all of that had changed that night, in a roaring mesh of flames. A large fiery dragon came and destroyed, forever, the piece that kept her armor up.

 **-[x]-**

 **~The Old Orphanage Church || Natsu Dragneel~**

Thanks to the Card Mage, Natsu and Happy, notably Natsu, was able to escape any further confrontation with the Titania, and managed to get his way out of battle growing between her and the Demon. Though, the exchange for that was _suppose_ to be a job the brunette was going to get on, but it had seemed it was just a 'clever' lie to throw the Titania off their trail if she were to ever leave and look for him like a bloodhound. Regardless, he couldn't really complain that this was the place where he wound up being, thinking at the moment it was far better than having to confront the Scarlet Knight. It was nice to be out in the open air, running around and not getting beaten half to death by the Strauss siblings, though, while he knew it was making him stronger, he still enjoyed not being in mortal pain. He himself didn't know why he chose not to disclose the reason behind his absence, though, perhaps it was because he still reeled from wondering what she said that left a light sting in him. It wasn't like her wanted to kiss her, heck, that was probably the first time he had done so, yet he never expected it to go to Erza of all people, and even moreso, received a near life ending punch because of it. Well, she was kind of serious about what she wanted, namely, to forget about it entirely.

Rushing around, the pinkette and the Exceed were running around, playing with the little kids at the orphanage. It wasn't like he had to, but he was grateful to Cana as it was, and since she was heading here, she was nice enough to bring him along. Though, it also meant that she had another favor on him. Well, for the most part it wasn't that bad. She wasn't like the Knight or the Demon who would probably run him dead, so it would probably be something simple or less threatening to his life. He had to admit, it was a little nice to see that the brunette told the kids he was a 'dragon' in disguise, and while he couldn't deny it, it did make the kids energetic to play around.

"Aaahhh! There he is! Natsu the Dragon!" one of the kids would shout while they chased the Dragon Slayer around, "Let's get him to save Big Sister Cana!" they'd cry.

In an act, he began to run around, lightly letting out puffs of flames to 'fend off' the children as they ran away, "Ahahahahah! Fear the fiery disaster of the king of Dragons!" lightly 'terrorizing' them.

"Annnnddd... his super Dragon companion Happy!" cried the Exceed. Although he wasn't really 'scary' he had helped by giving Natsu 'wings' and flew him around the place to add the to Dragon theme. "Better watch out! Natsu's flames... TURN YOU INTO DRAGON ZOMBIESSSS" snickering a little.

This got the kids really riled up as they felt a 'threat'. "Quick! If we bring him down, the Dragon can't harm us!" using some weird faulty logic behind, but he didn't mind, he was just having a great time about it and was glad that the kids were also having fun.

"Wait... Happy, what are they doing?" coming to a strange premonition.

Skillfully dropping him on the ground, "They're gonna jump you~" stifling a laugh as he flew away.

"O-Oi! H-Happy! Wh-Where are you goin-" before he could finish, all the kids began to pile on top of him, one by one, "G-Gaaahhhh!" pretending to be slain, "My reign! My super awesome Rulleeee-" is overwhelmed by the kids 'attacking' him.

Laughing, the kids continued to pile onto him as he tried 'breaking out', but overall, the kids were all having a fun time as it was having someone just as energetic as them to play with. Watching from the otherside, Cana, with Happy, was giving attention to a couple of the younger girls, having watched the pinkette get 'attacked' by the onslaught of kids that threw themselves to 'defeat' the cruel evil dragon. Normally, she would have taken some of her 'special juice' as she'd tell the kids, but considering there was more she and the Dragon Slayer were going to have to do, she held back...for now. Later, if time came around to it, she'd drag him to a bar to 'pay her back'.

"Big Sister~" calling out to her was a younger with with brown hair rolled in a bun, "Is he really a dragon?" asking her in awe, her eyes big and lit as she awaited her answer.

Smiling, she knelt down and patted her head, "Yup!" grinning, "Right now he's running away from a very angry Knight who wants to slay him~" playfully poking at the Dragon Slayer's misfortune, "So I've brought him to his secret castle~"

"Ahhhh noo!" a little upset she ran to join to pile of kids, "Protect the Dragon!~ The mean Knight is gonna take him away."

Floating just a little beside her, "Wow,... you're awfully nice, Cana", the Exceed had commented on how she spoke and treated the kid, "Then again, being with Fairy Tail is just being with very big kids."

Watching, Natsu had 'somehow' freed himself from the growing pile of kids jumping onto him and continued running around, carrying a couple of them on his back continue their little game. There was 'some' truth to what he had said, but for the most part, it just seemed like Natsu was just a kid at heart, which made it easier for him to play around with the kids.

"Hey hey!" one of the kids running up to the pinkette, "Are you and Cana... gonna get married?" asking such an off questioning.

Looking at her a little curious, "..." before responding he narrowed his gaze over at the brunette, "Cana! What are you telling these kids?!"

"...I may be a little off sometimes when I talk to them..." a little guilty, she smiled nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Go on, Natsu" urging him on, "Answer the little girl~"

Placed on the spot, he wasn't sure what to tell her. Marriage? That was probably the furthest from his mind, well, then again all he remembered was Igneel telling him it was a 'serious' matter, but since he wasn't at that age, it didn't matter. Though he could see that the little girl was eager to know what he had to say.

"Well... uh..." coming to a blank. Thinking it over a little, he finally came to a good conclusion, "Ah! Got it..." snapping his fingers, "You see... me and Cana **can't** get married because...! I am the **Evil Dragon King, Natsu Dragneeeeellll!** " putting on a fake villainous performance, "And...Cana... is..." thinking it over. He wouldn't necessarily call her a 'queen' or 'princess' given the kind of personality his fellow Guildmate had. She was more like, if one of the townspeople who just seemed to enjoy her life, drinking and spending time with good friends, possibly beating them into the ground. "...the Taven mai-"

Interrupting him, she struck him, "Try again" the Card Mage felt a vein twitch.

"Ow!" Doing his best to stop himself from shouting any sort of profanities, "That doesn't make you any more lady-like, Cana."

Tending to her own business, "I don't know what you're talking about, Natsu" stretching out, "A Queen has to rule with an iron fist, after all."

"Well... I suppose that's true" smiling a bit sheepish before turning back to the little girl, "Well... I don't think I'm the right guy for your Big Sister" telling her as he patted her head, "She needs someone who can get her off her butt and away from her silly juice... or well join her" unsure which one was better, "Besides~ Dragon's are super powerful~ Some of the strongest Dragon's live alone."

Thinking over it, he was glad that the kid was probably too young to get it, "Mmmm... okay" cheering up, "Still! You should come back and play Mr. Dragon" smiling, "Big Sister normally doesn't bring anyo-" interrupted by the brunette.

"All right All righttttt" cutting her off, she lightly pushing alongside, "It's about time you kids get ready for lessons... Don't wanna turn out like this one who slept through them all" advising, "Wave 'goodbye' to Mr. Dragon" passing telling them.

Popping up, "Don't forget his Dragon accomplice~" Happy cried with a large smile.

"That one too" adding him on, "Come on, hurry up."

It was funny a little, seeing someone like Cana of all being very much like an Older Sister to all these little kids. Well, it wasn't that much, considering she was kind of there back when they were kids. Back then, she didn't drink as much as she does now, well, had hadn't drank at all, which was so interesting for him to compare the two parts of them. Even Mira, she was a little more vicious, but with Lisanna, she turned into the 'kind loving' Guildmate everyone knows of her by now. And Erza, he could only wonder how she was. If there was a piece of her that changed. Then, it kind of hit him, he never really knew what kind of Erza she was before Fairy Tail. He had always know her as a the stern Knight who was strict about the rules and the atmosphere in the Guild. The more he wondered what kind of person she 'used to be' the more he began to think of the reason she was the way she was. Yeah. Erza's suffering and pain was because of that Azure haired mage. Jellal. Everything something about him is involved, Erza goes back to being in a decrepit state. To say he hated that person was an understatement...

The only different between him, Natsu, and Erza, just the mere thought of 'that man' always sent him into a burning rage, just thinking of all the things he had done to her. And more so, at himself, because he was barely strong enough to even do anything. Gritting his teeth, clenching his fist, it played like an nightmaric loop, reminding him all of his failures.

"Natsu" a light slap against his cheek shook him out of it. Cana was there, "Dozing off?...I've been calling your name for a while now."

Looking around, he was still at the old church with the Card Mage, "Sorry..." putting up a smile, "Whatcha wanna do now?"

"..." sighing just a bit, "I was gonna suggest an actual job, but it seems you can I could use a drink instead" passing a soft smile, "We can go to a tavern I know of, I know you don't wanna go back and run into Erza."

Dulling at the thought, "...You realize I can't get drunk right?" asking her, dropping his gaze at her, "It seems like a pointless point unless you just want to get drunk on your own."

"Hah" patting him on the back a lot like a certain Crash Mage he knew, he shrugged it thinking it was just something she picked up, "At least keep me company then" telling him, "You can fight off any pervs that try to hit on me."

Just the thought was enough to send him a little worried, "...So I'm on bodyguard duty."

"Something like that" grinning large at him, "Now C'mon! Unless we can always go back to the Guild, I'm sure Erza is excited to hear your little secret~"

Dread began to fill him once more seeing as he really just 'up and left' Erza because he didn't want to deal with her in what he called 'turn everything around her to dust' mode. Thinking it was probably better then to just tell her, since it wasn't a big deal, least he could imagine her taking it as not so much of a big deal. For a short while, its felt like the two of them were on a different page, or saw things different from one another rather than understanding the same view. Though, with his only options being to follow the Card Mage or hang out the Guild and risk running her into once more. Sighing, he looked to the sky, wondering if the Team really missed him, not being there to ruin their chances to get a full reward. Lucy was probably glad she could get her rent money without being dragged on horrible jobs, and to be honest any reason to get away from the Ice Mage was always a treasured treat for him. But. He wondered if the Knight's anger was the only real emotion she knew how to express. Although, when his mind lingered, he drifted into that night. Thinking, maybe he knew what he had to do.

 **-[x]-**

 **~A Few hours later || Erza Scarlet~**

The day was beginning to end, as such, she had been racking her brain trying to get Mira's taunting out of her head. Natsu being more than a good friend, that was just out of the question...right? The two of them had known each other quite a while, ever since he first came to Fairy Tail under the advice of Makarov, who had found him wandering about. She had always made it a point to make sure he was on the 'right path' and kept harmony in the Guild, something she started realizing was a little of a double-standard, considering her and Mira fought just as much as he did with Gray. They never considered each other anything more than dear comrades...right? Sighing, as she mulled over the thoughts, she wasn't sure what to think about her and Natsu. He was just a battle-hungry, dense, reckless member. The idea that he had any sense of what love was didn't seem like it'd make sesne. Then again... most of her 'love experiences' was either the crushing heartbreak from her former friend, Jellal... and the other 'experience' was just reading about it in her books. Did he really mean more to her than 'just a friend'?

Tightening her hold on her legs, she was where she always went when her mind was troubled. The grassy hill just above the river below. Hardly anyone stopped here, so she always felt better to just 'let loose' here, and find a moment for her thoughts. Though, even this place left lingered reminders. She was sitting just like this, when he came unannounced and unwanted, plopping down a seat right next to her without a care in the world. She could remember everything about that night, especially when 'it' happened. Thinking over it, she brought her fingers to her lips, just barely touching them with the tip of her index. What _did_ she feel that moment? Wondering more, she wondered what _he_ felt. Well, probably not much after she knocked his lights out, of course. But still, that night, when she went back to her room to regain her sense, ...it was all still a blur to her.

Holding her head, everything began to swirl around her thoughts, trying to find the answers she desperately needed. " _Do I really like Natsu?_ " wondering, looking for the answers in her head. She couldn't trust her heart anymore. The last time she had, 'he' had broken it...along with their friend. " _What does he mean to me..._ " Comrade. Friend. Teammate... she wasn't sure what term suited him. Everything felt wrong.

It wasn't like with Gray or Lucy. She could easily call them her friend, or her Teammate. She could say all of that with no hesitation and doubt. They could do anything, and she wouldn't have minded. Right? If Gray went away for unknown points of time, would she be just as upset of him missing? Of course she would! Right? Both of them mean so much to her, she wanted to say they meant equal to her. Lucy was also a dear friend to her. Was it because she felt Natsu was _purposely_ avoiding her? He and Cana never really get along, but she seemed a little eager to drag him away from her, and he easily ran off with her.

"Does...he hate me?" thinking aloud to herself. No, that can't be it though. He still smiles at her the same way he always had. "I don't get it... then..." sighing just a little, "Where are you, Natsu..." muttering to herself.

Staring down at the river below her, aimlessly speaking, she wasn't sure what she was saying anymore. It wasn't like he could hear her, so she had found it pointless to even say such. Though,... why did she even expect him to look for her. He was probably having the time of his life away from here, where it was much more fun and safe with Mira and Cana. Having fun...drinking... then in a drunken mesh...-

Her mind began to break down, coming to a screeching halt at the thought of what could happen next. Twitching just a little, it was a little like when she found out Natsu had been spending so much time with Mira, as noted by the photoshoots.

"No!" shouting as she suddenly rose from her spot, "I won't allow Natsu to be easily so tempted by those selfish harlots!" declaring aloud, "I'm going to go find Natsu, and drag him back if I have to!" stating, " _What he means to me can be thought of later..._ "

Though, just as she set foot to run off and find him, she turned and she fell back a little from what had happened. It wasn't her clumsiness that caused it, but merely because she was in such full sense of her own thoughts she didn't catch the idea someone was actually 'there', and when she turned, she noticed that the person in question had just been standing there, wondering how much he had heard.

"...Can we not drag me?" attacked by exhaustion from the mere thought, "..."

Snickering the exceed was just floating on beside him, "You probably should, Erza~" commenting, "If this goes on longer, Natsu'll be all over with out."

"Again... talk about being on my team for once" telling his friend. Turning to the Titania, he noticed she recovered from her earlier mishap. "Uh... Erza... What are you doing...?"

In her 'Hearts Kruez' armor, she had both her sword and a long piece of rope in the other, "If you don't struggle... it will make the next step far less painful... Natsu."

"...! Wait!" stopping her just in mid assault, he held up a bag with a box inside, "I bring peace!" telling her.

A little skeptical, she hesitantly grabbed the bag, "Don't move" pointing her sword at him before tending to what he brought her. It was a little weird and bizarre for him to watch how she decided to 'inspect' the truce he brought her. Instead of just opening it, like a normal person would, she carefully felt its weight, and took a whiff from it, as if she were a Dragon Slayer, "...All right... I accept your peace" sending her sword and armor away to her pocket dimension.

"Phew... I thought this would have been the end for me..." groaning just a little, just thinking about, "Are you feeling better?" asking, his thumbs tucked ito the hem of his pants.

Slightly distracted, she looked over at him,, "Mmm...? what do you mean?" asking him, a little curious. Though it had taken her a little while longer to understand what he had meant. "Oh... this morning?" thinking aloud those lines, "...Not really. I'm still mad at you" honestly telling him, "...Just why have you been going away so much, Natsu... don't you care about us (me)?"

"I don't wanna talk about it..." sighing just a little, "It's simple to say... but I don't think I can tell you with _why_ I've been doing it..." exhaling a little slow, tired. " _If I tell her it's to protect her,...she's going to be all sad again 'cause that jerk_ " thinking to himself.

Drawing a sword, she raised it towards him, "Speak" demanding him, "I won't allow an-"

He had rushed at her fast, faster than she had known him for, catching her off just a bit causing to instinctively strike. Though, he didn't do it to strike her, or try to anger, but used it as a measure to snake around, his back facing hers. Before she had a chance to turn around and shake the answers out of him, he pressed up against her, leaning his against hers and let out a loud sigh. It had felt like the two were separated by a large wall between them, when really it was just their backs pressed against her. Still, she had tried to take in how quick he had gone, though, by the look on her blade, she had cut him, noted as there was a little blood on the blade.

"...Do you hate me, Natsu?..." feeling the need to ask him. Her heart cringed at the very thought, wondering if the pinkette really did hold hostility towards er. "...Is it because I punched you... or because of Jell-"

Before she could finish saying _that_ name, he cut her off, "I don't hate you,... Erza..." answering her, " _I could never hate you_ " keeping those words in his thoughts. "...The way I am right now... I'm no good" after all, he still wasn't where he felt he 'could' protect her, at least, not as much as he'd like to.

"..." she didn't know what to make of that statement. " _I don't like this... not seeing you_ " keeping to her thoughts. Slowly, she was perhaps making sense of the swirling thoughts in her head, but it still was blurry.

Then, she began to remember back after the night of their kiss, when she had been avoiding him. After, as if by some spite against her by the world, the moment she had come to terms with it and decided it was wrong of her, that was when he had 'left' the group. Maybe somewhere along the way she had hurt him? It seemed enough if he was willing to keep things to himself.

"...But..." hearing him speak, she could just feel him stretching his arms above his head, falling against her a little casually, "I could always do lunch... if you want" throwing words out. "I usually get an hour break... and not gonna lie I do kind of miss you guys (just you)..."

Smiling a little, "Oh?" feeling the need to tease him, leaning back up against him as well, "Is the 'mysterious' Dragneel asking me out on a 'date'?" joking with him.

"...!" leaping off, "Of course not!" a little flustered at the thought, "Didn't you hear? I said I miss you guys not just yo-"

Before he could finish, she sent her sword away and turned to face him, "Does this mean Lucy and Gray get their favorite cake?" saying as she raised the bag, "This smells of Strawberry Cheesecake... so am I the last person on 'Natsu's List' to get a present?"

"..." dropping his gaze at her, "You're the only one mad at me... so" averting his gaze.

Though, in a swift change in expression, "I don't accept it" bluntly telling him, "You may have gotten me my favorite treat, but just it alone won't be enough to make up for your behavior, Natsu."

"...What else do I have to do?" dropping his gaze just a little.

Taking a seat back where she was, he wasn't sure what she was getting at. Especially when she patted beside her, "You have to eat this with me" telling him, "Meaning, you have to sit here next to me."

"But there's only one fork!" his face burning just a little more, "You expect me to eat with my hands?"

Looking at him a little off, "Well of course not" telling him, "It's simple, we'll just share the fork, we ARE in the same Guild and Team... So I don't see the problems in doing so."

"Something about that logic seems flawed..." dropping his gaze at her. A little worn out, he complied, however, "All right... if you'll be happier if I do this, I don't see the harm in it."

With a small smile to herself, she scooted over and waited till he dropped down to the ground, as the two of them began to eat the Strawberry Cheesecake he had brought her. Sitting there, the two of them laughing and smiling, she began to tell him stories about things that had happened with Team Natsu while he had been away. Even though they had done just 'simple' jobs here and there, with the occasional tough A-Class jobs, she was just happy to have this feeling again, talking about the things going on around Magnolia. It was then he began to tell her about what he did today, namely see the kids back at Cana's orphanage, telling her all about the times they played 'Kingdom' and he had to be the terrifying dragon. Then after, about how the Card Mage dragged him to a Tavern for her to get her drinking done earlier, commenting he had to fend off any 'drunk jerks' as she called them, and stated. They never. Stopped. Coming. Which had led to both of them getting kicked out, and he had to help her back to the Guild. At first she was a little concerned, but he assured her that Cana was just as fine as she always is.

However, when it came to eating it, she felt that it wasn't going to be 'entirely' bad about sharing, but as she took a bite from the cake using the fork that he had just used. A soft jolt sent her body warming from the inside. It was a lot like 'that night', thinking, and as she pondered a little more over it. She figured it couldn't be that bad after all.

 **-[x]-**

 **~East Forest - A Month Later || Natsu Dragneel~**

Training as usual, had been tough, especially since the silver-haired barmaid would make sure to make each training session progressively harder, something she called 'Mirajane's Boot Camp'. The weights would increase steadily by 5lbs a day, and the distance would effectively increase as well, meaning that he understood what she had meant by 'whip him shape'. After that, they would, as usual, make their way over to the East Forest for Part 2 of their training, which was mental focus and deep meditation for an hours time. Then, they, Natsu and Elfman, would work on their physical bodies. Pushups, crunches, and squats. Luckily for them, she hadn't increased them 'too much' as after the first day, having too much muscle mass wouldn't benefit the Dragon Slayer. Then, for the rest of the day until Lunch, would be sparring, then after an hour had passed of break, was a mixture of sparring and mental training. As painful as it was, he _was_ seeing definite improvements on himself, as the first time he could barely handle the workload, now, while it was still challenging, he didn't feel as wrecked as he normally would have.

Currently, he was in the middle of a training session with Elfman with the Demon spectating. Though, it wasn't just any normal sparring, he had to fight him while the younger Take Over Mage was in his 'Beast' Take-Over, something Mira had told him she could stop with very little problem. From what she had told him, just _one_ of her hands was more than enough to stop a powerful strike from the transformation. Thinking it couldn't have been 'that' bad was what knocked his lights out, giving him just an idea where he needed to start from. Thankfully that was only the first day, progressively he was getting better, even with Elfman getting stronger as well.

Rampaging through the forests, the Dragon Slayer wasn't 'running away', but carefully planning his next moves as he came head to head with the Taken-Over sibling. Dodging the powerful strikes, he braced himself for one of him with his entire body, "Damn...Elfman!" gritting with an excited smile on his face, feeling the heels of his sandals roughly being used to resist against the force, "That's all? I barely felt that on-" before he could finish, another strike was landed effectively sending him flying straight back.

"...He's always mocking him..." Happy sighed, shaking his head a little, "Always thinking he's better..."

Smiling, the Demon had merely smiled, "Aw, Don't say that~" telling the Exceed, "See?~"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" just as he was flung mid-air, he gathered immense amount of magic and blew a bellowing stream of flames back at the 'Beast-Elfman'.

As the violent flames rushed over, he braced himself, covering his face and shielding his front from the flames. Though, having had enough, he 'broke' the flames, only for the pinkette to have rushed over and, with his fists ablaze, struck him square in the chest with the left, focusing the remainder of his strength into the connecting left strike. His little surprise assault managed to 'payback' the Beast in full, having knocked him back a few feet, staggered against the ground before he began to pound his fists into the ground.

"...Aaaannnndddd Elfman is having too much fun...again" Mira came to the conclusion.

And as per usual, the two of them would usually just savagely try to beat down the other despite the obvious difference in height and mass. With every punch Beast-Elfman had dished out, it was enough to knock the pinkette back a couple with very little effort. Time to time, he would brace himself enough to handle the blows, but other times he was forced to roll it off and dive in to deal any of his own damage.

Using his left, he pulled the massive punch, letting him dive further in, "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" casting, launching his tightened right forward. "-Iron Fist!" mixing the spell for offensive, he struck harder, knocking him back further than he had before. "I'm not done yet!" launching himself, propelling himself with flames on the soles of his feet, and as he got close, he reignited his fists with large burning flames, condensing them.

"...!" a little mesmerized, both she and the Exceed stood watch as the Dragon Slayer was 'doing something new'.

Seeing this, however, Beast-Elfman had struck, and to his surprise, Natsu had countered with his own punch, smothered in condensed flames. "...All...Right..." putting on a cocky grin, he could feel the pressure sink him slowly into the ground. "That's one...!" just as Natsu forcefully gripped the hand, the Taken Over sibling had thrown another strike, this too was caught by the pinkette. "That's two!" grinning, the two fell into a stalemate, despite the dragon slayer feeling the strength cripple him further into the ground.

"...!" struck with astonishment, even the Take Over sibling was surprised by the feat this training partner had shown. There was still a difference in strength between the two, but he had to bear through the burning pain from the condensed flames, " _When did he...!_ "

Focusing, the flames got hotter, as did the ones condensing around his fists. " _Fire Dragon's Claw!_ " casting, as the fire erupted from his feet to make up for the overwhelming strength hammering him into the ground.

With the added propulsion, he jumped and kicked himself off of Beast-Elfman's iron chest, shooting him forward. Lightly confused by the little stunt, he had watched as the pinkette flipped over, feeling his feet break the force until he gained a better footing, and rocketed himself forward. With the added fire bursting from the soles of his feet, as well as his own physical ability, he had flown faster than the time it took to get this far. Cocking his tightened right fist, all the flames rapidly began to condense.

"Fire Dragon's Flaming Iron Fist!" engulfing his entire forearm and fist in burning flames.

In a blink, he had closed the distance, and in the next, he threw his magic-amplified punch, digging into the Take-Over Mage. ***SNAP*** his heightened sense of hearing had detected a bone had snapped, but before could register where it could have come from, he fell head-first into the ground. His training partner had been shot back several feet, tumbling against the ground a little but managed to catch his ground just barely, still feeling the effects from that punch, having forced to release his possession spell.

"Damn... Natsu..." heaving, holding his chest, "When did... you come up with that...?" wearing a little thin, Mira and and Happy had rushed over to check up on the two.

Struggling to get up, The pinkette had realized it was HIS arm that snapped, as he found out from trying to push himself up, "Gah!...Damn it..." falling back to the ground. " _I don't know either... I just wanted to mix the two spells... I didn't think I'd break my own arm!..."_ cursing himself in his thoughts.

"Natsu!" Happy cried, "Are you okay?"

Stifling just a little, "Y-Yeah..." putting up a smile, "It just hurts... a lot..." managing to sit himself up, crossing his legs. Though, as he paid to clear attention, Mira and Elfman had approached him.

"Natsu... Are you okay?" a little concerned, Mira lowered herself, "Let me see..." taking his right arm, she held it delicately, tensing around, "You might have a light fracture..." flicking his forehead. "Idiot!"

Growling back a little, "Oi! What was that for!"

"Getting yourself hurt in training!" scolding him a little, "Didn't you think what was going to happen when you used that spell?"

Cooling off, he averted his gaze a little, "Not really... I just guessed..." admitting to her, "I wanted to mix my Iron Fist and my Flaming Elbow..." he began to explain to her, "I've used them both a lot so I knew the properties and how each is formed... so I thought... 'hey...what'll happen if i forcefully merge them together...?' and...yeah."

"Well... of course..." sighing, "You have to be careful testing new skills, Natsu" she began to tell him, "If you don't know the effects it'll have on you or the person you're using it against, you can do irreparable things... you're lucky you got off with a fractured radius. From now on, until either **I** or **an emergency** calls for it, that move is _**banned**_ got it?"

Slumping a little, "Got it" not wanting to argue with her. It wasn't like there was a point to complaining, because he understood the reasons why. He hadn't learned how to utilize it well, and because of it, he could seriously harm either himself or someone else unintentionally.

With that, the training came to an early end, considering that he had snapped his arm during the middle of his training. Normally, she would have just gone and fetched Cana to help him out, but seeing as she was busy playing with the kids at the orphanage, there wasn't much she could do now. As such, the barmaid simply kept his arm elevated in a sling after taking him back to the Guild, the least he could do right now was wait for the Card Mage to return, that way she could help alleviate the pain, even if it meant another favor from her. Regardless, he needed to wash up a little, since he had gotten off a little early, so he could head over to get something good to eat. Mira had asked him quite often where and why he'd make his way off, as she could simply cook for him if needed, but all the time he had to explain it was something he promised someone, and he didn't want to go back on it. Though, the troubling part now was trying to come up with an excuse as to why his arm was in a sling. He had been lucky enough Erza hadn't questioned him AS much anymore about his whereabouts, but considering he had broken his arm this time, more or less, it was going to be touchy coming up with a reason.

 **-[x]-**

 **~Magnolia Town - 30 minutes later || Erza Scarlet~**

Making her way over the 'spot' where the two of them agreed upon to meet up, she had wondered a little more how he had been. Visits to the Team had dwindled just a little, and every moment he wasn't with Mira, Cana would drag him away saying he 'owes her favors' or he would go off on his own on a couple jobs. Usually the jobs he would take were given to him by Mira, wondering what was going on between those two, and while she knew it wasn't any of her business knowing what, it annoyed her to no end. Still, he had kept to his word, however, that every moment around noon, they would meet up for lunch. Usually Gray or Lucy, would poke in, just by her will to keep the Team together, but today the two of them were busy, leaving her to be the one to meet up with him alone. It wasn't that bad, thinking she enjoyed her one on one time with the pinkette, as he was usually far less likely to cause an outburst, or start some other thing with the Celestial Mage. Usually he and the Ice Mage would go at it, and someone the Celestial Mage would get involved, so with both of them unavailable, she perhaps could see 'that' Natsu, the one she had spent alone time with a little more frequent as of late.

Sitting up against the bench, just near the fountain, she relaxed herself, having time to finally have to herself. She still hadn't yet understood the nature of Mira's 'taunting'. While she hadn't accused anything of her, she was fairly persistent trying to reiterate what she said of 'Natsu being JUST a friend'. It wasn't that she didn't get the implication, it was just she didn't understand what he meant to her. Was he a close friend? a brother? To think he could be her 'lover' was something... unrealistic, as she'd think about it. There was no doubt that he was a strong willed, brave friend of hers, but love?...Even if she were to think that, there was no telling how he felt, and furthermore...perhaps love just wasn't in the cards for her. At least, not romantic love.

"Erza!" bringing her out of thoughts, she looked around and noticed that it was Natsu, that had called out to her. With a large smile on his face, she began to perk up a little, though, it was instantly shattered.

As she focused a little on what was at hand, she came to realize something fairly interesting about the Dragon Slayer. He had a sling around his right shoulder,... and his right arm was fastened to it. It had completely gone against everything his face was saying. Not only that, she had JUST seen him yesterday! How was his arm like this already?

"Urmmmm Erza?" curiously looking over at her, "You okay? You look like me whenever I'm terrified for my own life..." commenting at the look of death plaguing her face.

Though, it wasn't like for him, it was merely she couldn't fathom what had happened in just the slight difference between the two days. It was especially the fact since she didn't know what he does before meeting her for lunch, or after for that matter, that made it entirely harder for her to figure out what she was going to do about him. This was a reason she didn't feel comfortable thinking 'too much' what he meant to her, because currently she was too busy making sure he wouldn't recklessly go off on his own and possibly hurt himself in some form or way.

Sighing for a moment, "I'm...fine..." resting her head against her head, "Just... can you at least tell me what happened to your arm?" peeking a little intense look beside her hand.

"Ah... right..." remembering about the arm in his sling, "No biggie~" smiling large and sheepish, "I already got scolded about it, but basically I was just trying something out" giving her an innocent child-like smile, "After our Lunch, I was gonna find Cana and see if she can fix me up... _though it'll mean she'll get another favor on me..._ " muttering that last part to himself.

Curious, "You seem to getting close to Cana a lot..." finding it a little odd on her own.

"Really?" a little taken aback, he wasn't sure how to make sense of it, "I wouldn't think so. She just takes me to go visit the kids is all..."

Feeling her eye twitch, "...Kids?"

"Yeah" continuing to be a little oblivious with her, "She takes me to go play with the kids where she grew up... Not that I want to, exactly, buuuuttttttt, the kids seem to have fun, so I figured there's no real harm in it" flashing a large grin.

The way he spoke bothered her. Not in irritation, but because he had smiled, and seeing him smile always made her harder to stay angry with him. "Fine... I suppose..." not wanting it to spoil their short time together, "If you want, we can go find Cana first."

"Nah, We'll be fine... though..." finding himself in a little tight spot, he scratched his cheek with his left, "You might have to help me eat..." stating. "It'll be fine! It's just going to be for **today** and-"

Interrupting him, "It's fine."

"...Wait, huh?" Looking at her a little clueless, "I mean..."

Smiling just a little, "Well... Normally I would make you suffer since it's your own doing... but..." sighing just a little, " _It's just nice having you here..._ " thinking to herself. "Well... don't just dawdle... let's go eat before 'lunch' is over."

As she began to lead the way, she watched as she approached and eagerly followed her. She wanted to keep pressing him for answers, but she had to have trust in him, and perhaps doing so, he would trust her the same. It wasn't much, but it was the least that she could do. Though, the look on his face began to say otherwise. There was no doubt that whatever he was up to, he was serious about it and was going to tell her when he's 'good enough', but perhaps there was just a hint of guilt for having the need to hide it.

"Erza..." calling out to her, stopped in his tracks. She turned and faced him, plagued by guilt, "The thing is..." letting out a trouble sigh, "The reason I've been..."

It was then she began to understand _why_ he didn't tell her what he was up to. The reason wasn't because it was to try and 'hurt her' or get back at her for everything, but because there was a heavy reason why he had decided to do what it was. Inner turmoil was plastered all over his face. Wondering 'if she should know' or 'how can I tell her', there were probably thousands of things that were going on, and the more she pressed, the more she would have forced him to do something. Looking over at his arms, remembering what he had just told her '...I was just trying something'. And remembered that speed from before.

" _I...see..._ " thinking to herself, looking at him, " _So that's how it is..._ " putting the pieces together. "It's fine, Natsu" motioning over, she placed a hand on his head, "Just tell me when you're ready..." pulling against her, her 'Erza Hug'. " _The little... I wonder why he didn't just ask me..._ "

As he embarrassingly pushed her away from him, with the reddened look on his face, she could only laugh a little to herself, seeing him so flustered over something trifle as a hug between Guildmates. Though, as she watched him hastily pave the way for the two to find a way a place to eat, she continued to watch him from afar. Thinking he was still full of surprises, just when she thought there wasn't much else that he could do. She was a little jealous, though, if she had to admit anything. Between her, Mirajane, and Cana, both of them probably knew more about it than she did. And, as much as she wished she knew how she felt about him, it was a little disheartening. The warm feeling bursting around in her chest. Every time he spoke, when he smiled, it would light up her whole world. She wouldn't know how long this was going to last, but until then, she wanted to savor the small moments she had with him. If love wasn't just in the cards for her, she could at least bask in his light. 'Erza is strong... kind...and brave...' those words he spoke to him continued to linger with her a little more. No matter what, he had always believed in her, even in her weakest of moments. Thinking a little. It wouldn't be so bad to be in love with someone that like, with someone who never had doubt in her.

Perhaps one day, she could find someone like him.

Someone who could make her feel as warm and alive as he does with her.

Though,...

The thought of that person not being him...

* * *

 **A/N: Yaaaayyyyy We're doing this story again! :D (Darky feels like it's been AGES) yah, it has ;w; I've been busy updating the other story because just having so few out before I take a break... (Uh, Darky, what do you mean a break? D:) Oh...well, with classes, and the fact it's still taken me so long to write this (even though it wasn't really so long) just... has been a little tiring. So I'm gonna take a week off... or so... just go into a sleep coma and what not... and with Oracion Seis coming up, I really need the time to at least find out how I'm going to do that... Especially since I'm one chapter away from Tenrou in Crimson Dragon.**

 **Yeah, I kinda got the orphanage idea thing from Kript's story [Pet Boy of Fairy Hills] but I thought it was cute, and between that and other things, I just think its a nice thing between Cana and Natsu. So please don't hate me ;w; (Psstt... I have Flaming Pitchforks to hurl at Darky~ :D) Please no ;w;**

 **This is also the debut of Natsu's move... and the fact it broke his arm...uhm... I wonder what Natsu should use in Oracion Seis. I've had a few ideas how to handle Erik (Cobra) and Zero/Zeno (Meh), but again... week off. But yeah... I need a while. I got to figure out more for Boiling Water... I only got half a working storyboard for a request... and maybeeee just 3/4 of Crimson Dragon? Huh.**

 **Also, I hate drama. So yeah, super less angst this chapter. (IT'S A TRAP!) It is?! :O**

 **I think that's all... Imma go die or somethin... or coma...it all works. Lemme know what you thought with a review** ❤ **I hope you enjoyed it... and yeah... Oracion Seis... Tenrou... Boiling Water stuff... Route XX... uhmmm.. *death* (I'll finish, Darky~ Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please don't kill Darky~ That's what their head does on its own~** ❤❤❤❤❤)


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